1971 Cj5 Steering Box Conversion Advice Needed

Tarry99---Question.....Can I just flip that pitman arm over? It would be curved upward instead of downward, but it would be above the drag link horizontal plan. Or is the hole at the end of the pitman arm that the tie rod is inserted in tapered?

 

Tapered..........what you'll want to do is measure the C/C distance between the sector shaft out to where the Drag Link attaches.........and also make sure that a straight Pitman Arm will get you where you want to be height wise.....and then go on a hunt to find what you need........It would also be a good Idea to know what sized sector shaft that is........as there are at least 3 different OD sizes and spline counts in the Saginaw Power line............Some Pitman arms also have an internal key in the spline to locate the Arm in the OEM position........so in order for you to get it back into the straight ahead position...........you may have to file a groove into the blank key so you can locate it where you want, always use a new lock nut or lock washer, takes about 200 PSI to get it off with a 3/4" drive gun............Parts Mike in California used to have a real good inventory of different & Odd Pitman arms. They can help.

 

Just for "an example," the picture below shows various pitman arms, I ended up using the WJ version on my Jeepster/Commando conversion with the 800 series Saginaw box. I had to cut the 4 internal keyed splines to make the WJ arm a "universal fit" so I could put it in the desired position. Oz

 

Be wary of inexpensive pitman arms. I had one that I got from 4 Wheel Parts that broke on a rather difficult trail. Fortunately someone in the group had a spare and I was able to get out without issue. If you have your choice of a $45 or a $65+ pitman, buy the better one. If that pitman arm had broken while I was bombing down the road it would have been very ugly. I bought a quality arm from PartsMike and it is bulletproof. Also, consider a proper brace from the steering box to the passenger side framerail.