1998 cherokee XJ steering problem HELP!

[Jeeping98]

i just lifted my jeep this past weekend and i was told by someone that there was a problem with the steering and i needed to buy these parts...

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch...egory_Code=XSP

http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch...egory_Code=XST

this seems a bit extreme for what i am looking for. i do not plan on off roading my jeep hard core i will go off road but nothing to crazy. i was also told to out on a pitman arm and that will fix whatever the problem is. i am not sure what the problem really is. but i have a 4.5 inch rough country lift on my 1998 jeep cherokee and if anyone has any advice to this please let me know. i am not sure the difference with these parts i do not know steering parts very well at all.

 

[TerryMason]

Welcome to Jeepz.com

As to your steering problem - what are the symptoms you're having?

I can't speak to the over the knuckle steering kit you referenced, but can give you some input on the track bar. When you lift a Jeep, the factory trackbar is at a set length, and can pull the axle more towards one side of your Jeep. You'll want to measure how far your tires are sticking out on each side to see if your axle is being pulled out of alignment.

You can get more info about Trackbars, and the install process here:
http://www.jeepz.com/forum/suspension/29198-jeep-track-bar-install.html

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

You do not need a drop pitman arm or heavy duty steerling. Just make sure your draglink and track bar are close to parallel and that you got an alignment after the lift. All will be well.

 

[69jeepcj]

Bounty hunter, you dont sugest a pitman arm after 4.5" of lift? I would think a pitman arm would be the minimal he needs to put the draglink and trac bar back to close to parrallel?? I admittedly dont know a lot about cherekees so maybe they are adjustable or something. IDK, please educate me on this.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Bounty hunter, you dont sugest a pitman arm after 4.5" of lift? I would think a pitman arm would be the minimal he needs to put the draglink and trac bar back to close to parrallel?? I admittedly dont know a lot about cherekees so maybe they are adjustable or something. IDK, please educate me on this.

A drop pitman arm would cause the track bar and draglink to no longer be parallel, unless the axle end of the track bar were raised to bring them back parallel. I ran 5.5" coils in my MJ (same setup as XJ's) with the stock pitman arm and it worked great, still had range in the tierod ends for the passenger side of the axle to droop out during articulation.

I forgot to add in my post above, once the trackbar and draglink are no longer parallel, you increase the effect of bumpsteer. Not to be confused with death wobble, completely different animal.

 

[desertrunner]

I had a 4.5 inch lift on my xj and before I got a drop pitman arm the tie rods were nowhere near parallel. It makes it much harder to align the front tires properly. Also When I removed the ball joint from the original it was pretty beat up from being maxxed out during articulation . The one side was pretty mushroomed. You do get more bump stear if you install a pitman ARM with a lot of drop. Mine was a 2 inch drop and everything worked great

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I had a 4.5 inch lift on my xj and before I got a drop pitman arm the tie rods were nowhere near parallel.

There's only one tierod and one draglink on an XJ. An alignment is easy with a stock pitman arm.

What balljoint did you remove?

 

[desertrunner]

I ment tie rod and draglink... The one connected to the pitman ARM. My buddy had a similur problem except the shaft itself was bent