The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Steering Connector (Drag Link) Length

I'm in need of a special application steering connector (Chev Part #6.870) from Pitman arm to steering arm with a ball to ball length of appx, 16 inches. Anyone have an idea..perhaps something from a Big Bolt or COE?Thanks for any help.

what year truck do you have ? stock front suspension or lowered ?
leonard

The vehicle is actually a '35, but the steering box is from a '40 car and is located forward from the original mounting point.

You could make your own. Just center the steering wheel, point the wheels straight ahead, measure the distance between the pitman arm center and the steering arm. Then take your old drag link to your friendly tig welder and have him work some magic on it. That's what I did, and for $20 I have my "custom" drag link.
You can also mix or match the ends this ways too. If you want to get fancy, you could put in an adjustable link.

Thanks Waldo. Looks like I may be headed in that direction.

ironhead68, as waldo53 suggested, i did the same thing.
i needed a shorter drag link after installing a dropped front axle in my 57, so i cut out 1 1/4 of an inch, and tig welded together, even putting a small piece of pipe over the weld joint, and tig welding that also to the rod.
here is a pic of mine after modification.

http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/...00/?action=view&current=DSC01379.jpg


hope this helps..
leonard

Hey, alright! Show and tell.

Here's a picture of mine, it looks a lot like Leonard's only I took 3" out since I moved my steering box forward.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2520793140100049064vWerBE

see tech tip
this is a starting point for you and will work after you get the holes resized for modern tie rod ends. this works on any vehicle not just pre or AD rigs.
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/draglink_adjustable.html

Jim, since you list part numbers in your techtip, can you give a approx. length of the finished drag link? I need one about 11.75" + or - a bit. Also, was the taper reamer really needed or can they be hand fitted? Joe

The original holes of the steering and pitman arms found in the AD's had to be welded up & ''chevy'' taper cut for
the modern ball joynts. I had mine done at a 4 wheel shop. I can't say for your truck's front axle pieces if they need this done. there are many ball joynts
and sleeves available and all come in various lengths. mine measure out :::
ball joynts are center to thd. end - 3'' & 8.5''
adj. sleeve 4.25''
my overall length is approx 14'' this could go shorter but you could buy two different ball joynts at 5'' and use
this same sleeve. see a flaps for more details.
happy hunting
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=24.jpg

Joe H -
I hand fitted mine with out any problems.

Joe