The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Play in drag link

The drag link on my 1952 3100 has some play in the end that attaches to the pitman arm. Can I just tighten that big screw on the end to eliminate the play?

You can do that. Might be a good idea to remove the drag link, clean it very well and then check the balls on the pitman arm and the steering control arm. If the balls are noticeably egg-shaped and/or if they have been severely worn at the bottom (the part below the ball) by the drag link, you might want to think about things. 1952 was quite a while ago and I've seen some that were worn to the point those balls were being held on by a piece of metal that looked about the size of a common number 2 pencil. If that's the case you may not be able to do much more than replace them and start anew. Just a thought, BillyDon.

Jon G nailed it.
That drag link is loose for a reason. Most likely from worn away metal. You need to check out just how much before you tighten it up.

Usually when they get a lot of play like that the spring is broken. Tear it down & check the ball. If it is reasonably round get a rebuild kit & o-haul the drag link ends.
There is a replacement drag link with the newer style ends available for some models.
George

I took it apart. The ball looks pretty round and the cups don’t look worn. But when I put it back together and snug it up, by the time I back the screw off enough to line it up with the cotter pin hole, the play is still there. Shouldn’t that spring be keeping some tension on the cups? I didn’t remove the spring because I couldn’t get a hold of it. Is there a trick to that?

That spring should be under a bit of compression when the link is adjusted correctly. There's a "top-hat" shaped plug that goes into the end of the spring under the cup. You should be able to get a pick tool down the center of the plug (there's a grease passage thru it) and pull it out, then the spring. I would recommend pulling all the bits out and inspect them. I think the length of the plug is there for adjustment. Tightened till the plug bottoms out, which compresses the spring, then back off 1 turn plus what's needed to insert the cotter pin. If the spring is broken or compressed permanently, there will be play in the connection.
Here's a diagram of the drag link parts.

Are all of the holes on the draglink open? There are a ton of them to choose from, but sometimes they get caked with grease and grime and you can't see all of them. You really need to completely remove the draglink and get the spring out and clean all the parts thoroughly. There is nothing to keep road grit out of these, so its a good idea to do a good cleaning before you adjust them.

When I was doing regular wheel alignments on the vehicles with that type of linkage, we would compress the spring fully, then back off only enough to align the nearest cotter pin hole. Loosening the plug any more than that will introduce some slop into the steering.
Jerry

I had a devil of a time getting that plug out. Somehow it was cocked and wedged in place which was why there was no spring tension. Once I got it out I was able to reassemble everything and it’s working fine now - no more play.

Yep. That's what The Book specifies.
But then, you don't need no stinking book. The guy who wrote the book probably heard you talking about it beforehand.

Sometimes the spring is broken and wedged, hard to get out, but must be done!

Ed

I took a closer look at my drag link because I had seen only one pair of holes. Mine seems to have just the one set.