Drag link limiting droop

[77 K20]

I ordered some custom 4" ORD front springs last month. They will be here in about a week. They are supposed to have 14" of articulation. The longest shocks I could fit are some Bilstein 5165's that have 13.1" of travel.

I don't have crossover steering on my truck. Maybe someday. But that is another $1,000+ thing that I can't get into for quite some time.

Without a front sway bar and Tuff Country front springs (current setup) I've seen my drag link at some pretty good angles. Is there anything I can do so increase the "flexibility" of the drag link? How strong is the stock draglink anyway? Will it snap if I drop the driver side axle down in a deep hole?

I'm currently running a 2" drop pitman arm. When I asked at offroad design if I should get a raised steering arm they said no. What I have is good enough- you want the drag link to follow the curve of the front springs. This is different than what I've heard: you want it parallel to the ground.

I did find a few articles about EMF drag link ends. They can do 42 degrees of deflection. Bad idea?

https://www.emfrodends.com/collections/tie-rod-end-high-angle-for-4-10-lift

http://www.fourwheeler.com/product-reviews/1404-emf-rod-ends/

 

[hirschdalechevy]

I have never tried those end's but I do know you want the drag link flat with the ground. I would get the raised arm and see if you could get it flat with or with out the drop pitman arm.

 

[77 K20]

Can you recommend a good raised arm brand/company? Or are all of them pretty much the same (Rancho, Tuff Country, etc...)

Started looking at some reviews and of course they are all over the place. Some said that the raised arm was flexing and wasn't strong. (which I think they would snap before flexing)

 

[Craig 85]

I too have always heard you want the drag link flat. The reason for this is bump steer. In the early 90's I did a 6" Skyjacker softride lift on a '77 K5. I only added the raised steering arm. Due to the flex in the springs, whenever I hit a bump in the road, my steering wheel would rotate 2-3". I added a Superlift "S" type drag link to make the drag link parallel. It fixed the problem, but was a PITA to set up as you had to keep disassembling it to make you final adjustment to get the steering wheel straight. Had I know about dropped pitman arms back then, I'd have gone that route.

 

[77 K20]

Got my front leaf springs mounted. Raised the truck by the frame to let the suspension drop and looked for issues. Brake lines are long enough- barely. Diff vent too short. Driveshaft is ok, no binding.
Drag link is pretty sorry looking.

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With the truck at regular ride height the drag link drops (dips down) about 2"-2.5" to get to the stock steering arm. I have a 2" pitman arm on it right now (and I threw the stock one away years ago).

If I put on a 4" raised steering arm then my drag link will be 2" high at ride height. Not sure how this would drive this way... but in some ways it would be good in my mind. The suspension is setup for about 5.5" of upwards compression, and 8.5" of drop. Since there is more drop then wouldn't it be good for the drag link for be raised up a bit?

 

[shiftpro]

Those are absolutely lovely speings. Flex Town. Best advice is bite the bullet and get your cross over steering on board.

If you haven't bought shocks yet I highly recommend Doetsch shocks. Small family run company. These are the mono tube rebuildable by the owner.
They will make them for your specific needs. You can add a resevoir later if you wish.
http://www.shocksandsuspension.com/productinfo.asp?item=6&dc=1

 

[77 K20]

I wish I would have known about those shocks before I bought my Bilsteins. I went with the 5165s with a remote reservoir. The Bilsteins are not rebuildable so I'll see how they go. The 5125's I had on there before started leaking after only 3 years.

Cross over steering is the way to go- but I've spent my play money for the year on new front springs and new 56" rear springs, new shocks, rear shackle flip... it adds up quickly. I'm hoping it will ride smooth enough the wife will want to head out exploring with me. She didn't like the way the truck rode before. Especially after an all day expedition out to nowhere.

I figure once I go crossover I'd also upgrade the axle shafts to the chromemoly ones that are a lot stronger- since I would need to remove the passenger side spindle assembly anyway to get a flat top one. Then PSC steering box... need to do some saving.

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[77 K20]

Put on the raised steering arm today. Man- that old one was very happy staying put. Tons of PB blaster, hammers, pry bars... and finally popped it off.

With the new arm on the drag link looks pretty flat. I measured the angle and it is actually now tilted upward at a 2.4 degree angle with the axle end being a bit high.

Test drive was better, but can still feel it move and wander when I hit bumps. I'm going to take it in to an alignment shop and see what they say and get it aligned. I have a new set of tires going on in a few days anyway so want it checked out.

 

[colonel mustard]

Put on the raised steering arm today. Man- that old one was very happy staying put. Tons of PB blaster, hammers, pry bars... and finally popped it off.

With the new arm on the drag link looks pretty flat. I measured the angle and it is actually now tilted upward at a 2.4 degree angle with the axle end being a bit high.

Test drive was better, but can still feel it move and wander when I hit bumps. I'm going to take it in to an alignment shop and see what they say and get it aligned. I have a new set of tires going on in a few days anyway so want it checked out.

1. have you checked caster?

2. I have ORD spring 6" lift. I used there raised steering arm. (which btw is exactly the same arm as the rough country 4" one I took off my blazer) still bitter about that lol. and have no bump steer.

3. do you have the sway bar hooked up and relocated?

4. I might try putting your old pitman arm back on with the new steering arm. see how that works.

 

[77 K20]

1. have you checked caster?

2. I have ORD spring 6" lift. I used there raised steering arm. (which btw is exactly the same arm as the rough country 4" one I took off my blazer) still bitter about that lol. and have no bump steer.

3. do you have the sway bar hooked up and relocated?

4. I might try putting your old pitman arm back on with the new steering arm. see how that works.

I remember you had the ORD springs. I was just doing a search for the pics of your rig when I found you posted here. I thought maybe you had cross over steering.

So your drag link must then have a 2" downward slop to the axle then, right?

I haven't checked caster. Haven't been able to schedule an alignment for it yet.

I took my sway bar off with the old lift and still don't have the swaybar on.

I did buy a pitman arm puller from Rock Auto when I bought my raised steering arm. I friend of mine has an old parts chevy truck and a Suburban and he said he has stock pitman arms on them. I threw my stock pitman arm away years ago when I switched.

This pic was of my new tires, but you can see the drag link in it also. It is pretty flat which I heard was good...

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[colonel mustard]

I haven't gathered all the parts to convert to crossover steering yet. my drag link is slightly declining from the pitman arm to the steering arm. looks like your is slighty the opposite but not by much. flat is good but youll never get it perfectly flat..so don't think it has to be.

1. caster is easy to check if you have level ground and an angle finder. put the angle finder on top of the knuckle. somewhere flat. I think I used upper ball joint. I think if I remember right caster on a 10 bolt should be between 5-7 degrees. google that number though and make sure I'm right...been doing a lot of lifts lately and cant keep my numbers straight. I can measure mine when I get home.

2. have you checked things like tie rods and ball joints. sometime if they were on the fence from being good or bad before a installing a lift...beating on them can push them over the edge.

3. another thing that popped in my head..did you torque the bolts down to the right spec? and while the vehicle was on the ground with tires on?

 

[77 K20]

Haven't had time to check the caster yet. On weekends I work 12.5 hour graveyard shifts. And when I'm not working it is pouring down rain.

I did check all the bolt/nut torque yesterday after I put a few miles on it. Everything is still tight.

But did have time to read more on draglink positions. From what I've gathered so far the ever popular "drag link should be sitting level" is only true when the truck is stock. The "real" theory behind this is to try and match the curve of your spring. Stock springs are flat, or bowed upward a bit.

I tried mine with a pretty steep downward angle to the axle. Didn't work. Tried it with a slight upward angle to the axle. Didn't work. So by putting a stock pitman arm back on it will be a slight downward angle to the axle. And this will match my spring. So it "should" work.

I did find this online- and think it explains it the best:

"You will find the best results having the draglink angle down towards the rear
this will have the arc the draglink travels in negate the fact that the axle travels rearward while compressing for at least a little bit of bump until the draglink hits level and the arc begins to shorten the effective length while the axle continues to travel rearward as the spring flattens. Parallel to the ground is NOT CORRECT"

I've been like a kid before Christmas for the past month in anticipation of getting my truck up and going with new and improved parts. I will only get part of Monday to work on it, then have to pack up and head to the brother-in-laws for a few days.

 

[bucket]

I will say this. I once had a K5 with an old stiff Rancho 4inch lift on it. It had stock steering parts and the draglink was at a terrible angle. It didn't drive very well due to the stiff springs and the heavy, wide, egg shaped Swampers, but it didn't really have any bumpsteer or wandering issues.

 

[theblindchicken]

I need to get a raised steering arm. I'm around 5-6" of lift and only have a drop pitman arm. About like a 2-3" drop to the axle, so pretty steep angle for the drag link.

Steering on the truck is pretty loose, but that might be due to the old steering box that i believe is still original.

 

[77 K20]

Yeah- this bump steer is a new thing for me. I don't like it. There is a very narrow road with big ditches on it I drove home on last night and hit a big bump and it pulled to the right- dropped both tires off of the road on the side of the road.

I drove the Touareg to work tonight.

All the components felt fine before, but ordered all new draglink components since I've been working in that area anyway. Moog front/rear drag links and even a new moog sleeve. Mine is looking very rusted. Rock auto prices were better than even Amazon.

Also thinking about the borgeson steering shaft with the U-joint (in a month or two- once I get other issues worked out). Some of my steering play is from my old rag joint. Not sure I like the idea of a Jeep steering shaft- besides the junk yards around here are picked clean.

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This is the steering setup I had with my old lift (dropped pitman arm, stock steering arm). With the new springs the drag link dropped down a bit more of an angle. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Bad bumpsteer.