Topic: Steering help...please!!!

[Mozman68]

Well, after I read enough about it on other forums, I decided to go back to my stock pitman arm on my 3" lift....apparently, the drop pitman arm isn't needed and it looks like my steering is now parallel:



Couple of questions:

1)  How far is the pitman arm supposed to be in??  I hammered the hell out of it to get it where it is and I can't seem to get it on any further.  Is this gap okay (close-up below is from picture above)??



It had a little gap when my buddies and I put the drop one on, but I can't remember what it looked like when it was on the first time.

2)  How the hell do I straighten my steering wheel so it is oriented correctly when my wheels are straight??

Thanks!!

[chardrc]

sory but i dont have help but i need the same advise about geting the tires strait.. i have to have my stering wheel turned 90 degrees to the right to go strait down the road.. took a while to get used to.. and some close calls also.

[Jeffy]

The splines are tapered.  As long as the nut is torqued down it's fine.

Af for the second questions, the picture above won't help that much since it's a TJ steering setup.  But basically you'll want to loosen the two colars on the drag-link that goes from the pitman arm to the tie-rod.  Unlock the steering wheel and move the tires so they're straight.  Then unscrew the rod and the ends will start to turn in or out.  It's pretty simple.

[Mozman68]

Got it...alot simpler than I thought....actually, I found this way to work better:

Drive enough so you know you are going straight (not far..do it in your driveway or edge of your street)....loosen the two bolts on the collar so they are loose....use channel locks to turn the sleeve until the steering wheel is straight.  

It's amazing what a quarter of a turn will do...mine has to be perfect and it took me three times to get it just right.

I guess I'll need an alignment again since the toe changed??

[Jeffy]

Got it...alot simpler than I thought....actually, I found this way to work better:

Drive enough so you know you are going straight (not far..do it in your driveway or edge of your street)....loosen the two bolts on the collar so they are loose....use channel locks to turn the sleeve until the steering wheel is straight.  

It's amazing what a quarter of a turn will do...mine has to be perfect and it took me three times to get it just right.

I guess I'll need an alignment again since the toe changed??

On a TJ, you'll need an alignment unless you took measurements before hand.

[chardrc]

what about on a yj.. (the alignment part)