Steering drag link

[Bigred3plus3]

Anyone have a picture of what there stock draglink system looks like? Or there 6 inch lift system looks like. That's what mine has. I took off a lift that was I think 8 or 10 inch and put a 6 inch kit on. The 6 inch kit came with the same size steering arm block as what's on it now.

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[bucket]

Think he was more referring to steering arms. Kingpin 60 and half/three-quarter ton 10 bolt is different arms. Drag link probably is the same thing.

Yes. My point was just to get parts that work with the smaller axle.

Not sure if you or PO installed the lift kit but I assume it came with the new steering arm.
They are typically matched with the lift amount. It does seem to raise the rear of the drag link higher than it should though. Usually a littler lower in the back. Almost if the raised steering arm is too much.
Another way some compensate for a lift is a drop drag link with the standard steering arm.

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Those things are a waste of money. The only thing they do is fix the angle on the joints when you are running a big lift. It does absolutely nothing to fix the geometry or how the truck drives because the pickup points are still in the same location.

 

[bucket]

Anyone have a picture of what there stock draglink system looks like? Or there 6 inch lift system looks like. That's what mine has. I took off a lift that was I think 8 or 10 inch and put a 6 inch kit on. The 6 inch kit came with the same size steering arm block as what's on it now.

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With most decent 6-inch lifts, you just run a basic 4" raised steering arm. Looking at your pictures, you just need to remove the block and install stock length studs in the knuckle.

 

[dvdswan]

1st question: Why do you have a dana 44 on a 1T? It should be a dana 60.

2nd question: Why are you running 1T spring plates on 1/2-3/4T springs? U-bolts should be right up against the springs with no gaps.

IMO, I would go to a cross-over steering system, you will have to loose the front sway bar though. Ditch the push/pull steering design that the truck has.

 

[77 K20]

How much of a lift do you have on your truck?

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My lift turned out to be 5" in the front and 6" at the rear. The front has OffRoad Design custom spring packs- so the spring pack is much thicker than most aftermarket springs out there.

In my first picture I posted that was taken after I replaced my 2" lift with the 5" lift. It has a drop pitman arm on it with the stock steering arm. It was horrible to drive. I bought a raised steering arm after that and installed it and kept the drop pitman arm. The drag link level looked like yours (don't think I have a picture of this). It drove horrible also. I then removed the drop pitman arm and put on the stock pitman arm. Much better.

 

[Craig 85]

One thing I noticed is your drag link is in backwards. The side with the longer shaft should be over the steering arm on the axle. The bolts on the clamps may cause a bind/steering lock up issue.

On my K30, I did not want to run a block on the axle steering arm (D60) as I was only adding a 3" lift. I went with a dropped pitman arm from Skyjacker #CA50 (2.5" drop). My drag link has a small downward slope from the front to back. I don't experience any bump steer.

I had one of those S-type drag links on a 77 K5 I had with a 6" lift, It sucked because every time you had to make an adjustment, one side has to be unbolted and pooped off the steering arm.

 

[Bigred3plus3]

1st question: Why do you have a dana 44 on a 1T? It should be a dana 60.

2nd question: Why are you running 1T spring plates on 1/2-3/4T springs? U-bolts should be right up against the springs with no gaps.

IMO, I would go to a cross-over steering system, you will have to loose the front sway bar though. Ditch the push/pull steering design that the truck has.

Like I said previous owner took all the 1 ton axles and put 3/4 ton axle back under it. As far as that goes I dont care cause it's not going to be a offroad truck or a heavy hauler. It's going to be rig that will haul all the family around when needed and get driven very little. As far as the springs go it has 1 ton springs. I bought the springs my self.

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[Bigred3plus3]

My lift turned out to be 5" in the front and 6" at the rear. The front has OffRoad Design custom spring packs- so the spring pack is much thicker than most aftermarket springs out there.

In my first picture I posted that was taken after I replaced my 2" lift with the 5" lift. It has a drop pitman arm on it with the stock steering arm. It was horrible to drive. I bought a raised steering arm after that and installed it and kept the drop pitman arm. The drag link level looked like yours (don't think I have a picture of this). It drove horrible also. I then removed the drop pitman arm and put on the stock pitman arm. Much better.

Ok so you now have the stock pitman arm and the raised steering arm. I will give that a try. I will have to order new studs but that no problem.

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[Craig 85]

I would agree to remove the block since you have the raised steering arm already. If you can't turn full from lock to lock or notice bump steer, you may want to add the pitman arm I referred to as it's probably smaller than the block you have.

 

[Bigred3plus3]

Yeah that's what I'm going to try. Just ordered a new set of studs. Should be here in a couple days.

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[Bigred3plus3]

Well with a bunch of effort I got the steering arm off and the lift block now I cant get the long studs out. Thought I had a stud remover but turns out i didn't so ordered one of those. Tried double nutting it but just stripped the treads. May try welding a nut to the stud and see if that works also.

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[bucket]

Might try heating the knuckle around them too. They "should" have loctite on them.

 

[Bigred3plus3]

Thought about that but I decided against it because I dont want to get the ball joint boots hot and risk them catching on fire. They are way to close.

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[84 M1008]

My 84 K30 has a 6 inch lift with crossover steering. It is far better than the stock steering geometry with the short drag link type in my opinion.

 

[Bigred3plus3]

Well I ended up welding nuts to the tops of the studs and getting them out. I'm not convinced it's going to be any better. This picture is it all done and back on its own weight. It's on a jack stand on the driver side by the way.

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