I really think I need to build to 70 stability at 70, knowing that I'll never be headed down the interstate.
How do you know you'll never need to take it on the interstate? Or pass another vehicle on a 2-lane highway? As you said, you need stability to 70 for just such occasions. I would plan for the worst case scenario and roll with that.
Besides, any vehicle driven on the street just needs stability in general. There is no other scenario that's reasonable. Or legal!
Based on feedback, Drop Pitman, Adjustable drag link and 7 degree C bushings, anything else?
Yes. ALWAYS a dropped trackbar bracket at the same time as a pitman arm in a situation like yours. And frankly, if you can swing it, an adjustable trackbar.
The adjustable trackbar might not be as handy as the draglink is, and the dropped trackbar bracket does get your axle closer to centered than it would be now anyway. But the ability to twist the upper eye of the bar really makes installation a lot easier and lets the bushings live a lot longer.
So consider the adjustable trackbar too if you can. Or at least put it on your list for things to do later.
What's the priority list?
Unfortunately, all of the above. Not because one or two are more important than the others, but because it's more of a "while you're there" thing.
In other words, the pitman arm and trackbar bracket are the key items here. But "while you're there" the adjsutable draglink makes total sense. Otherwise you're already starting off by doing things twice.
And the same goes for the trackbar. You're going to have the old one half-way off at least (maybe all the way if you need new bushings) so why not just put the new one on now?
See how it snowballs?;D
Some extra FYI's for you.
1. After verifying that it's all bolted tight and things are working for you, the trackbar bracket needs to be welded to the frame for the best performance. It's safe to drive when just bolted, but there is too much potential for flex. So welding is required afterwards. Whether you do it or you have done, it should get done relatively soon.
The good news is that, if you don't do it yourself, you can drive it to the welder.
2. Check and, if necessary repair, any wobbled out holes especially for the upper trackbar bolt.
3. Since you will have your pitman arm disconnected, NOW is the time to make sure your steering box is centered and that the steering wheel is indicating it's centered by being straight in the middle. See how the snowballs get bigger when running downhill just like in the cartoons?
Before you park it to do the work, make sure that you were driving straight ahead (no matter what the steering wheel indicates) and then park it. Now you can remove and install stuff knowing that you're working with a known commodity. If you can't drive it in straight, or decide to jack it up and take the tires off, not to worry. This can still be done. Just might take some additional adjustments of the draglink later.
4. You don't have to jack the truck up to do any of these tasks. Nothing is holding weight, so you don't have to support anything. Just start taking things off.
5. When the box is centered, install the new pitman arm on straight back. The old one might have been 1-spline to the driver's side, and that's ok too. But later Broncos used a straight-back orientation.
If you want the whole procedure for centering the box, we can go through that when needed.
Good luck.
Paul
That makes things REALLY exciting! I tried correcting mine with C bushings but could only get to about 0 that way (and it still didn't tow well). So I had to add drop brackets for the radius arms.
