Crossover steering clearance issue

[77 K20]

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So I thought I was going to be done today on this- but just realized I'm in trouble. I have offroad design's front custom leaf springs. They have about 5.5" of upward travel. The "ball joint" hangs down from the pitman arm so far that I only have around 3" of clearance between it and the top of the leaf spring.

I called ORD and they said that part of the leaf spring doesn't come up the full 5.5". He said it would be less (midway between the axle plate and the front spring eye will only move up 1/2 of that or 2.75"). Based on that I calculated the leaf spring can come up 3.75" and hit that ball joint.

ORD only has 2 pitman arms. They sent me a 3.5" drop. They also have a 1.5" drop. I can't do the 1.5" drop as I'm pretty sure then I'll hit the engine crossmember as I will be up too high. Yes, I know they do make a high clearance crossmember- don't want to do that now. Besides- with my ram horn exhaust manifolds I already had clearance issues with a motor mount. This other crossmember would surely make things worse...

I want a 2.5" drop on a pitman arm. But can't find one yet. Anyone know of one?

I did fine a 2" drop from Sky Offroad. That might work... maybe...?

https://www.skysoffroaddesign.com/products/chevy-cskpa-001?variant=14098992169026

I've heard Jeep XJ pitman arms fit the GM 2wd steering box. Then supposedly so did some wagoneers and late 70s bronco arms?

2wd dropped pitman arms are something I've never had to mess with. Disappointed the ORD kit isn't just "plug and play".

 

[Vbb199]

I may have something for you that you can use??


Fairly flat pitman for a saggy box

 

[77 K20]

I may have something for you that you can use??


Fairly flat pitman for a saggy box

Do you know how much of a drop it has?

Did you find any errors with my logic on why my setup won't work? I know you've played around with crossover...

 

[Vbb199]

Do you know how much of a drop it has?

Did you find any errors with my logic on why my setup won't work? I know you've played around with crossover...

I checked, and what I have wouldn't even work
It doesn't have a hole in it for a tre.
Was thinking my old s10 arm would work perfect for you

As far as like on the s10, I have/had wayy more room to clear the pitman, and I used heims rather than tre.

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[Vbb199]

Do you know how much of a drop it has?

Did you find any errors with my logic on why my setup won't work? I know you've played around with crossover...

It "looks" like you could afford to use a smaller drop pitman arm??? But I'm looking at the pitman/frame clearance from underneath rather than directly at the side of the frame.

 

[77 K20]

I found a 2" drop- guess I'll order that and then see what happens.

I think I'll rather chance hitting the engine crossmember than the leaf spring coming up and bashing my pitman arm. My luck I'd break the sector shaft right off of the steering gear or something...

 

[Vbb199]

Suppose if you had to take the grinder to the castle nut to get it to clear, that wouldn't be so bad?

 

[Bextreme04]

Sure seems like that ball joint should just be going in from the top to solve all of your problems. I'm betting that pitman arm is tapered so it has to go in from the bottom though, right?

 

[77 K20]

Sure seems like that ball joint should just be going in from the top to solve all of your problems. I'm betting that pitman arm is tapered so it has to go in from the bottom though, right?

Right- it goes in from the bottom.

This is a picture on ORD's website of their 1.5" drop arm. That gets it so close to the frame you will probably have to do some grinding on the threads/and/or the castle nut.

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[TubeTruck]

Is your castle nut tight? I don't see any threads sticking out for a cotter pin, or even in the slot on the top of the nut. I bet if you tighten that you will get another .5" to 1" clearance.

 

[77 K20]

You're right- it isn't all the way cranked down. I removed that thick kevlar boot and cranked it down. Got maybe 1/2" more clearance out of it but then I'd still hit by about 1/2" if I hit something hard.

The few times I've hit something very hard in the road was with the wheel straight and at speed. I can see it smashing the daylights out of that tie rod end and so I guess I'll take my chances with cross member clearance issues when turning.


Oh- and the 2" drop pitman arm from Sky Offroad is actually just a 1.5" drop like ORD. And Sky has a 2 week wait due to Covid. So cancelled that order and just ordered the 1.5" drop pitman from ORD.

This has been an interesting learning experience. Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[bucket]

I thought back before the crossover steering parts were widely available, people would use a pitman arm from a late 70's Ford van. I don't remember what it looks like though, so it may not even help your situation.

 

[77 K20]

I thought back before the crossover steering parts were widely available, people would use a pitman arm from a late 70's Ford van. I don't remember what it looks like though, so it may not even help your situation.

I've heard rumors of that also. But then quite often the taper for the one end of the pitman arm can be wrong. There is a different taper for a tie rod end vs a drag link end. I need a tie rod end taper.

So things are widely available if you know more than I do.

So with that- I gave up looking and just ordered the other pitman from ORD.

 

[eskimomann209]

Why not swap that ball joint for a Rod end? It’ll give you the clearance you need. There used to be some debate on using them for steering in DD trucks. I’m not sure if that’s settled now. But I have used them for link arms and never had an issue. Just buy a quality arm and a small spacer.

 

[eskimomann209]

This kinda idea but just do the one you need.

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Try to ignore the fact that this thing probably has bump steer like a MFer