Alignment After Lift

[JeepComanche89]

Hi guys, I have a 4.5 inch rustys lift in my MJ. I went to get it aligned the other day and they said "draglink was bad" and I needed to fix it as "it would not work". From this I concluded that the adjustment sleeve dose not have enough threads to compensate for the lift. My question is would a drop pitman arm solve this? If so what size, Rusty's website says a 1.25 drop for a 3 inch lift and up, anyone running this setup?

[87manche1]

Or a bad tie rod end. Shops won't touch alignment if 1 tie rod is bad

[Alexia]

If you drop the pitman arm down you also have to drop the track bar down to keep the geometry correct or you will experience steering issues.

[MancheKid86]

i ran a stock drag link on 4.5" of lift,

i added a zj v8 tie rod which is a great upgrade and was cheaper than getting TRE's

[mnkyboy]

I used to run the stock steering on a 6.5" lift with no drop pitman.

 

Something is most likely seized or worn out on your stuff.

[Backdraft]

Agreed. I'm at 6.5 inches and running V8 ZJ steering with a stock pitman arm. And I have plenty of adjustment left on the sleeve. Unless one of your tire rod ends are bad or the drag link/tie rod is bent, you're stock steering should be able to perform. If they didn't give any better explanation than that, I'd be leery of their intentions.

[wrpoole]

Steering and worn parts I found is extremely vehicle unique I replaced almost everything in my front end out of suggestions after we checked and said feels a little Loose in my zj it ended up being a worn lca upper bushing so my advice check everything

[JeepComanche89]

Thanks for all the replies, they mentioned nothing of tierod ends although that does make sense. I assumed if it was a wearable part they would just replace it being as that is what they do. I have a Rusty's adjustable trac bar that came with the lift, so I was assuming that would provide enough adjustment.

 

I was thinking about the ZJ tierod, but someone said that the draglink is the same length as well. So I don't see how this would help me but correct me if I'm wrong. Never noticed it anything was bent or not, I could take a look though.

 

I'm going to a better place for alignment when I'm ready, perhaps I should just bring it to them and see what they think, as some of you guys are running stock steering with the same of bigger lifts?

[Eagle]

With the XJ/MJ inverted Y steering, the draglink IS the right side tie rod end. If you look at the parts listings on Auto Zone and other sites, I don't think you'll find a "draglink" (or "drag link"). You'll find left and right side, inner and outer tie rod ends. It can be confusing when the tie rod "end" is more than two feet long.

 

My '88 MJ had a 4" lift when I bought it. No dropped pitman arm, and the stock drag link was plenty long enough.

[ParadiseMJ]

With the XJ/MJ inverted Y steering, the draglink IS the right side tie rod end. If you look at the parts listings on Auto Zone and other sites, I don't think you'll find a "draglink" (or "drag link"). You'll find left and right side, inner and outer tie rod ends. It can be confusing when the tie rod "end" is more than two feet long.

 

...not to mention that the drivers side TRE cost's $20 and the pass side (drag link) costs $60-70.

[JeepComanche89]

Yes i know what you mean by the "tie rod ends" being part of what most would call a draglink. So should i buy a drop pitman and not install it, then get it aligned and see if they need it? The truck isnt on the road yet, so its a little tough to bring it somewhere, just to bring it back.

[Eagle]

So should i buy a drop pitman and not install it, then get it aligned and see if they need it?

 

IMHO ... no. They don't need it. As Alexia posted above, if you drop the pitman arm without dropping the track bar mount by the same distance, you screw up the suspension geometry and you will have bump steer.

[JeepComanche89]

IMHO ... no. They don't need it. As Alexia posted above, if you drop the pitman arm without dropping the track bar mount by the same distance, you screw up the suspension geometry and you will have bump steer.

I'm confused as to how it will affect the track bar

[Alexia]

 

I'm confused as to how it will affect the track bar

 

The drag link and track bar need to be parallel with each other when installed other wise they move in different arcs with suspension movement causing bump steer and possibly steering wobble.

 

[JeepComanche89]

^but i already have a trac bar, meant for a 4 inch lift. So if the trac bar is different, dosent the pitman armbhave to be dropped?

[Geonovast]

Just because you have an aftermarket track bar designed for a lift, doesn't mean it mounts in a different place. When you drop the pitman, you must drop the track bar to avoid problems. This is done with a new track bar mount.

[JeepComanche89]

Just because you have an aftermarket track bar designed for a lift, doesn't mean it mounts in a different place. When you drop the pitman, you must drop the track bar to avoid problems. This is done with a new track bar mount.

I know it mounts in the same place, but it follows a different contour than stock

[Geonovast]

Contour has nothing to do with it. When comparing the geometry to the draglink, you need to draw a straight line from the mount on the body to where it mounts on the axle.

[JeepComanche89]

That makes more sense, ill have to take a look today to see what it looks like

[Eagle]

I know it mounts in the same place, but it follows a different contour than stock

 

The shape of the track bar and the drag link don't matter. What counts is the angle of a straight line drawn from the upper pivot point of each to the lower pivot point.

[HOrnbrod]

[JeepComanche89]

Nice pic, thanks. I guess I'll just take it to the new shop and tell them to do it without the longer arm. I'll post with what happens

[Bounty Hunter]

I ran 5.5" coils for a while with the stock steering setup. No need for a drop pitman arm.

 

Sounds like you may need a more reputable shop, or at least one that can more clearly describe to you why they can't do the alignment.

[Eagle]

They can do the alignment, they just want to sell him parts.

 

My brother used to be service manager for a BMW dealership. One of his biggest problems was doing battle with certain of the technicians. When a car would come in for service, instead of getting to work fixing whatever the complaint was, their priority was always to waste a bunch of time going over the car to see whatever they could find to "upsell" more parts and labor.

 

I view it as an evil aspect of the auto service trade. Virtually all shops today pay technicians and service writers a percentage of whatever parts and services they can sell, so there's a big incentive to sell parts that aren't needed. The worst part is, when you decline the unneeded parts, there's a high probability the tech will get pee-oohed and do a crap job on the work that DOES need to be done.

[JeepComanche89]

They can do the alignment, they just want to sell him parts.

 

My brother used to be service manager for a BMW dealership. One of his biggest problems was doing battle with certain of the technicians. When a car would come in for service, instead of getting to work fixing whatever the complaint was, their priority was always to waste a bunch of time going over the car to see whatever they could find to "upsell" more parts and labor.

 

I view it as an evil aspect of the auto service trade. Virtually all shops today pay technicians and service writers a percentage of whatever parts and services they can sell, so there's a big incentive to sell parts that aren't needed. The worst part is, when you decline the unneeded parts, there's a high probability the tech will get pee-oohed and do a crap job on the work that DOES need to be done.

Not really the case. They just didn't want to do the alignment. They showed no interest at all after they saw it was lifted, even though I told them that. They did not want to sell me the parts, or fix it. Its going to a more reputable shop on Monday to see what they say.