well i got another ? this involves the angles on the trak-bar and the draglink. The truck is a 76 f150 4x4 with almost 20 inches of lift. I know you should keep them angled the same so they are paralelle so this is where im stumped. FIRST the angle on the drag link was 15 deg as it sits now.SECOND i need to bend it so the rod ends have more clearance im doing this by bending both ends 15deg .Now the ? should i set up the trak-bar for 15deg the same as the draglink or should i set it up to the new angle after i bend the draglink? thanks ...and have a good holiday

 

never mind...

 

Do you have a shot of the axle/steering from the front? I'm not understanding why you need to bend the drag link. IF you need to bend it I would start there and then adjust the trac-bar angle to match.

 

You wont change the angle of the draglink by bending the ends. the draglink runs from point A to point B. Unless you move point A down or point B up, point A being the pitman arm and B being the axle mount, the draglink will still be 15 degrees. The shape of the draglink doesent matter its the vertical seperation and distance between the mounts that determines the angle. That said I would not recomend bending your tie rod ends once bent they will probably break. EDIT What I am picturing is that the ends are maxed out in their travel so you are going to bend the draglink down at the pitman arm and then back up at the axle end? so the shank on both ends are paralell to the axle. does the draglink attach to the tierod or the knuckle?

 

You don't want to bend the drag link. I agree with Bling that you need a pick. I'm having a hard time with the 20" of lift. How far off are you? How is the drag link set up?

 

Sorry for the confusion, here is a pic of my steering setup. The rusty bar (drag link) is just a proto type to see how it will look, I'm not bending the rod ends. I'm bending the bar itself, about 4in. from both ends. Here is a pic. I'm not bending the track bar but i will be moving where it attaches to the axle, up or down to get my desired angle.

 

Only if you bend the drag link at the same distance from the end on both ends. Otherwise you will indeed change your angle. We call this a Z link and they suck. I see what you're trying to do F150, but I don't get why. Buy a kinpin steering arm and get that junk off the tie rod mount. It'll give you a better angle for steering with and be a hell of a lot stronger. I paid $40 for mine. You can get them blinged out for $100. Then keep your drag link a straight piece. Don't want to see your truck on the Scary Steering site. Then you can adjust the trac bar angle with a bracket. Otherwise it looks good.

Have you had a chance to run it yet or not? I've seen the middles bow over on 12" coil springs so I'm curious how well these will stay in line.

 

double posted

 

The angle on that track bar looks like more than 15 degrees to me.Ivan, are you telling me you can change the angle on a drag link by bending it? That is impossible, you can physically change the angle of the link but the operating angle it the same. If you run a string from the pitman arm to the knuckle That is your draglink angle, it doesent matter what shape your draglink is.

 

Yea, I can't say I've ever seen coils that tall except on a custom four linked suspension. Be interesting how this shapes up. What size tires are those?

The plane of operation is the same, but the operating angle that the heims see (which is the crucial point of failure) IS changed by bending the drag link. I believe Ivan was talking about the operating angle at the heim joints.

 

Jesse, I got what you're saying, operating angle vs. the actual angle his drag link is at. I thought you were saying he couldn't change the angle at the ends by giving it more bend. I see what he's getting at with it, to reduce stress on the TRE's but as stated it really needs a KP steer arm. It's not a good idea to set it up like this anyhow but it's especially a bad idea when you move the tie rod to the top like he did as it puts a LOT of stress on that joint and the mounting bolt.

 

You guys up to speed yet?

 

http://www.bluetorchfab.com/oscomm/c...roducts_id=306 Here is what you need.

 

Blah . . . I'm typing AND thinking too slow tonight. I mentioned TRE's but I see he's using heims . . . you know what I meant.

Also look on ebay for those steering arms. You can get arms for much cheaper there. Go to a tie rod end instead of a heim joint and you'll be good to go. If I sober up a bit I may even get off my butt and go find the part numbers for the TRE's. They cost me about $40 for the pair and will handle the angles of the drag link much better than heims.

 

Yeah ebay has some, I only posted the link because they are a sponsor. check out ebay numbers 7942401418 a set for $75 buy it now, or 7941912168 current bid is 16 bucks, but it is a shorty.