Steering drag link

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Bigred3plus3

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So my crewcab has a 6 inch lift and my steering is a bit sketchy. Was looking and the drag link from the pitman arm to the steering arm has a upwards slop going from the front to the back. This normal? It has a raised steering arm block also that would have come with the lift. I will get a picture in the morning to show what I mean.

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Frankenchevy

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My k30 drag-link is fairly flat, but it’s not lifted.
 

Bigred3plus3

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Here's what I got going on.
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77 K20

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Nice truck!

Can you give some more details about "sketchy steering"? Are you experiencing bump steer? Meaning if you hit a bump or a dip in the road does the truck "steer by itself"?

According to OffRoad Design the drag link should technically follow the arc of the front leaf springs. Many say the drag link should be flat- and it is when stock or with a more mild lift.

With this setup I thought I was going to crash and die:

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Kinda the opposite problem of what you have. I changed it so it follows the leaf spring and now it is much better. Ultimately I'm changing to a cross over steer, but for now this works on the street.

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On a different subject- if you find the front rides too rough you might want to try taking off the sway bar and see if you like the ride without it.
 

idahovette

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Made a pretty good hanger for your engine heater.
 

Bigred3plus3

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Hey thanks. I've only had the truck since last November. This is the first time having out driving. As far as it being sketchy if just feels odd driving. The gear box was EXTREMELY LOOSE so I put a new (well remanufactured) box on and turns out the new box was worse then the one I took off. I ended up tightening up the original box and putting it back on for now. I probably shouldn't judge it to much yet because the tires that are on it are extremely hard and wore out so that may be some of the poor driving. I've never owned a square box 4x4 so I'm actually comparing it to my 96 dodge v10 4x4 which I know is a completely different setup.

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idahovette

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Sorry, talking about @77K20 use of his old stabilizer mounts for his heater.
 

Bigred3plus3

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Oh haha

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bucket

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You have what looks like a raised steering arm and a steering lift block. It looks like separate pieces, but it could be solid. If it's 2 separate pieces, I'd try taking out the block. Not really to help the geometry, but because that's a lot of stress on those studs.

Which by the way, that's a 3/4 ton axle. So if you buy steering parts for a K30/3500, you will get the wrong stuff. Your truck would have had a Dana 60 to start with.
 

Bigred3plus3

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Well that's not exactly true because I made sure and looked both the 3/4 ton and 1 ton part numbers for the drag link parts and the are the same part numbers. I do know that the truck does not have the original axles. They were taken out by the previous owners. The current axles are late 70's 3/4 ton axles.

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Bigred3plus3

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Nice truck!

Can you give some more details about "sketchy steering"? Are you experiencing bump steer? Meaning if you hit a bump or a dip in the road does the truck "steer by itself"?

According to OffRoad Design the drag link should technically follow the arc of the front leaf springs. Many say the drag link should be flat- and it is when stock or with a more mild lift.

With this setup I thought I was going to crash and die:

You must be registered for see images attach


Kinda the opposite problem of what you have. I changed it so it follows the leaf spring and now it is much better. Ultimately I'm changing to a cross over steer, but for now this works on the street.

You must be registered for see images attach



On a different subject- if you find the front rides too rough you might want to try taking off the sway bar and see if you like the ride without it.
How much of a lift do you have on your truck?

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Vbb199

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Well that's not exactly true because I made sure and looked both the 3/4 ton and 1 ton part numbers for the drag link parts and the are the same part numbers. I do know that the truck does not have the original axles. They were taken out by the previous owners. The current axles are late 70's 3/4 ton axles.

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.
 

RoryH19

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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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