Steering
#1
Steering
Hey community new here and have a question. I just installed DOETSCH 1 ton aluminum tie rod and drag link flip kit with falcon adjustable steering stabilizer on my jeep. Running 3.5"lift on 315 75 17's. Dialled in my steering and toe, my geometry looks good but she feels a little flighty . My drag link is damn near parallel with my track bar so I'm not sure where the problem is. I'm thinking that maybe I just need to get used to the steering being more responsive then the stock crap that was on there. Will attach a pic any advice would be much appreciated.
#2
The obvious thing that sticks out here is you have a 3.5" RC lift. You have now flipped your DL, BUT, from the picture, it appears you still have a drop pitman installed. You need to remove that and go back to factory pitman arm.
Imagine a straight line from your axle side TB bolt to frame side. I don't think your DL is as parallel to your TB as you think it is.
Imagine a straight line from your axle side TB bolt to frame side. I don't think your DL is as parallel to your TB as you think it is.
Last edited by resharp001; 08-14-2019 at 11:24 AM.
#3
Steering
So you think going back to a standard pitman arm would help the bump steer I'm getting now? And correct the geometry between my DL and TB? visually they look close to me right now. Far closer than before.
#4
The drop pitman that RC uses, combined with raising the TB, is just another manner in which to achieve a high steer setup; however, most of us would deem flipping the DL to be the better alternative. RC lifts have more of a background in trucks, and the ole drop pitman is much more common on a pickup truck as a means to adjust steering.....so I can see how that carries over to their jeep lifts, but it's really a headache tbh. You are out of whack right now with both drop pitman AND a flipped DL. You need to choose one, and reverse the other. Either go back to mounting a DL in factory position at the knuckle or go back to a factory pitman arm.
#5
Yep, that's my take on it as well. Use one or the other, not both.
Don't just try to eyeball the bars. Can't see the upper trackbar bolt, but throw the pic in Paint or whatever and draw straight lines between the mounting holes. Here is what the 'parallel-ness' of these two bars looks like to me.
(Current)
(Remove drop pitman, go back to stock pitman, and the frame-side of the draglink moves up)
It will of course vary based on the actual locations of the holes, but just using these as an example, Pic 2 looks a whole lot more parallel than pic 1, right?
Don't just try to eyeball the bars. Can't see the upper trackbar bolt, but throw the pic in Paint or whatever and draw straight lines between the mounting holes. Here is what the 'parallel-ness' of these two bars looks like to me.
(Current)
(Remove drop pitman, go back to stock pitman, and the frame-side of the draglink moves up)
It will of course vary based on the actual locations of the holes, but just using these as an example, Pic 2 looks a whole lot more parallel than pic 1, right?
Last edited by nthinuf; 08-15-2019 at 11:40 PM.
#6
I agree absolutely. It's been suggested to me to do exactly that. I have the factory style pitman arm on the way and we'll be installing this weekend. I will repost pics when finished. Thank you very much for the info. And time. You guys are awesome
#7
Steering
Ok guys, I removed the drop pitman arm and installed a factory pitman arm and it's like night and day. It completely fixed the issue and now is more solid steering then even before. I really really appreciate everyone's time and advice on this issue you guys are awesome. Picture included nursery shows how the geometry is so much better. DL is much more parallel with the TB now. Again thanks for everything.
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LC Boyer (08-18-2019)
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#8
Good deal! It was easy to spot and hopefully you're set for a while. You had a much better experience removing a pitman arm than I did apparently! I just swapped steering boxes and gave up. Could not for the life of me get pitman arm off that sector shaft
#9
I used a pitman arm puller for that and just loosened the castle nut on the DL side and disconnected my sway bar and swang it up out of the way turned my wheel all the way to the driver side and wad ankle to beat it loose.