The crossover steering is installed on my truck and the draglink is not clearing the tierod. I have rear springs up front and the axle is moved around 2" forward. The sterring box is mounted all the way forward. The crossover kit I got was from Marlin which came with a stock pitman arm modified to fit an FJ80 rod end. The stock arm is too long and has too much drop to work with my install. So I am looking for another pitman arm. It needs to be shorter than stock and have less drop than stock.

I wanted to know if anyone else has been in the same situation and if so which pitman arm they chose. So far I am thinking that AOR is the place to get it. They offer a stubby flat pitman for $100 plus shipping or a 1" drop for $135.

I was concerned that changing the length and angle from stock would change the steering characteristics, like bump steer or turning radius. Any help would be appreciated.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

Hey Chris,

I was in your same situation and I ended up getting a completely flat OTT Industries pitman arm from Inchworm Gear. OTT also makes a pitman arm that is slightly shorter than stock with less drop. I had the luxury of checking out both pieces at Inchworm's shop.

Front Range Off-Road also sells a modified FJ80 pitman arm with the same characteristics. Brian McCamish and Bill Morgan both have these on their rigs. You might want to swing by Off Road Solutions and see if they have one in stock, they carry a lot of FROR gear. Here is a picture of Bill's pitman arm:

I found the FROR pitman arm for $135, but I don't think that 1/4" shorter is enough for my setup.

http://www.frontrangeoffroadfab.com/pitman_arm.htm

I think that the arms I found from AOR are the same ones that you bought. Here is a picture of one:

http://www.aor4x4.com/ottpa.htm

They say they have a flat one also for $100. Is that about what you paid? Is yours shorter as well as flat? Does your steering behave normally even with the flat pitman arm?

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

I have the FROR pitman arm. The difference is fairly minimal, but if it's really close, it works, plus it's a little flatter. The shorter pitman arm does make the steering slightly slower, but it's not bad and frankly, I think slower steering is better in a tall, fairly unstable rig.

But if that won't work, you might consider relocating the axle back a bit. You can possibly redrill spring perches and locate the springs back a bit or get some relocation plates from All Pro. That should do the trick, if you don't mind the axle not being as far forward.

On my brother's truck we swapped in a new pitman arm from Sky Manufacturing. It has 3/4" less drop than stock, but is the same hole-to-hole length as the stock arm to keep the steering ratio stock. They also make a completely flat arm. I don't know if they make arms that have a shorter hole-to-hole distance, but you might call them and ask.

sky-manufacturing.com

Also, when you say you have the steering box all the way forward, does that mean you cut out part of the sheetmetal next to the radiator to move the box up? If you haven't cut sheetmetal yet, you haven't moved the box as far forward as possible.

Remember that a slight adjustment may be all that is needed to get the draglink and tierod to clear. The tie rod is moving rearwards as it moves up, so you need to do your measuring with the driver's side spring compressed to see what's really going on.

I believe that I paid $110 for my pitman arm, but I did not have to pay shipping. As Brian noted, you do not want to go TOO much shorter on the pitman arm as it will affect the speed of your steering and your leverage.

I have not gotten my truck running yet, so I cannot comment on the flat pitman arm. It did make the drag link slightly steeper, however the drag link is long enough that I do not expect this to cause any bump steer. My truck should be running soon and I will have a whole series on my impressions of different systems (steering, brakes, suspension) as well as adding to previous product reviews.

Well I talked to Scott at Rockstomper, Mike at Off Road Solutions and Brian at Front Range Offroad and between the three of them I decided on the arm from Front Range Offroad. I am regretting not trying harder to get my truck into Mike's shop. He told me right off that neither the Marlin Hi-Steer or All-Pro Kit will work with the axle moved forward 2" by the Toyota rear springs. Had I known this I would have purchased a different kit. Anyway the shop I used already mounted the shock towers where they need to be for the axle to be 2" forward. I don't know what I will do if this pitman arm doesn't work. If I have to move the axle back at all the upper and lower shock mounts are not going to match up. I know they don't have to be perfect, but I don't think they are going to work very well if they are more than an inch off.

They didn't cut any sheetmetal to mount the steering box, so I guess they could have gone further forward. I just love considering the fact that all the labor I just paid for might have to be redone to get it like I want it.

Thanks for everyone's input. I will let you know if it clears and I am able to drive it home.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

That seems to be the trick to getting the draglink and tierod to clear each other when using the All-pro/marlin style arms and rear springs up front (or building a custom front x-member that moves the axle forward 2+"). Cutting into the core support by the radiator gives you that little extra bit of room to move the box forward and rotate it so that the two rods just clear each other on compression.

I wouldn't worry about your shocks not perfectly lining up. I originally mounted my springs backwards <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" /> and welded the shock hoops based on that. When I flipped the springs around, the shocks were at a slight angle to the front. No biggie, it's worked just fine for several years. Seems to me, moving the axle back about 1" is your cheapest option, especially if the new Pitman arm is not enough. Here's an older picture of mine that shows the shocks just a little bit canted forward. For you it would be the other direction, but no big deal. Today, I have a different set of springs that actually moved the axle even more forward, which is why I later needed the FROR pitman arm.



Good luck.

Are you using Ford shock towers as your upper mounts up front?

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado