Bought a lift and I'm at the pitman arm it's stuck and I can't get it out. Used penetration oil with torque wrench and sill won't budge. Can I continue with the lift then come back to it later when I can get some help? At the very least could I continue with the passenger side then when I have some help go back to the pitman arm and try and get it out?

Thanks

 

What lift/height? I'm assuming the lift came with a drop pitman arm? Most drop pitman arms actually put more stress on the steering box. Though it will drop the top of the drag link to make the steering more parallel there are other ways to do this like a drag link flip(moving the knuckle side of the drag link to the top of the knuckle). If your lift is over like 2.5 inches it is likely the ride wont be very comfortable and the steering will be sloppy without either the drop pitman or the drag link flip. Are you using a pitman arm puller? If that doesn't work and you still plan to change it out then you can always cut it off.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly you aren't asking if you can drive it and do the pit an arm later, you are just asking if you can do other parts of the lift for now and go back to the arm later? If the second is true then yes, you can put the other parts on and do the arm last, doesn't have to be in the exact order the instructions say. But since it has a drop pitman arm it must also have a track at drop bracket, so if you don't install the pitman arm the steering and track bar will be at different angles and you'll get horrible bump steer so don't drive it until all parts are in.

 

yeah i have a pitman arm puller from Advanced Auto

 

You should just throw the drop pitman in the garbage and do a drag link flip. If they included a drop frame side front track bar bracket, throw that in the trash too.
What cheap lift did you buy?
Some spec's will help steer you in the right direction.

 

Thank you this answered exactly what I was looking for

 

Rough Country 3.5" series ii

Why should i throw that stuff out and get the drag link flip? What are the advantages to it?

 

I had a rough country 4 inch lift before I changed it out for a 3.5 inch rock krawler X factor, except I left the RC drop pitman arm on there. Last week my pitman arm snapped where it attaches to the sector shaft. I wasn't doing anything crazy at the time either. Luckily there were some people there that could do some creative welding to get me off the trail. Jeep has about 55,000 miles on it and running 35s

 

The short cuts that rough county uses like the drop pitman and drop frame track bar brackets lower your roll center creating more body roll from side to side and the lack of a adjustable track bar keeps you from centering the axles. The drop pitman arm also puts more stress on the steering box. Cam bolts tend to slip on off road vehicles and when they do your caster gets out of whack and your steering will feel flighty.

People buy that kit because of the price and end up replacing most of it and add the missing components like adjustable track bars and control arms to get a better handling jeep.

 

With the propensity to bend the sector shaft and crack the steering gear box housing, I would NEVER recommend a drop pitman arm that only adds more leverage to be seen by parts already known to fail. While "tossing the pitman arm in the trash" may sound bassackwards to you, it is the best advice you could take. I would rather see you keep the stock pitman arm, and don't do the frame side track bar drop. This will keep the 2 parts in alignment, agreed not at an optimal angle, but also not severely weakening the set up. Then as you can afford, get an adjustable forged or chromoly track bar to properly center the axle. Then again, as you can save pennies up, put an axle side bolt on track bar raise bracket on and do a drag link flip. At that point, your doing things correctly and in an order that makes sense. Many people will run without the flip/raise for a while at 3"-4" while they gather money/parts to address the steering geometry. Again, being loaded with money and doing all at once is best, but many many Jeepers will poke at it over time.

The drop pitman arm is just an all out bad idea unless your honestly just going to be on the road. The money you save today will cost you 5 times that later to fix what you ruin.

Buy once, cry once. That is good advice.