Drag link
 

Has anyone come up with an alternative to the current drag link. Generally it is a good design but the rubber boots to protect the greasy parts are not a good desigh. They often fail and then dirt gets into the inner working of the drag link wearing out the balls on the pitman and steering arms. They are also easily damaged. I was thinking of something like a heim joint.

This supplier is in Illinois: https://steinjager.com/shop/products...&menu=category

And here are some from Amazon: .
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...817bc36471.jpg

I haven't had any problems with the boots myself. But I would definitely not replace the stock setup with heims. The factory design absorbs road shocks to prevent impacts to the steering box. Heims are rigid.

Yes, you are right and that was a concern that I had , , , , but then lots of vehicles do NOT have that feature including the Toyota 4x4 that supplied my power steering box. This original drag link is an unusual design for today's vehicles. I think other 1950s vehicles used the same thing. Also lots of street rods us a heim joint set up.

True enough that modern usage likely doesn't include all the crappy dirt/mud roads that were common in the past. Are you having problems with the boots? There was a batch of bad ones sold thru Dennis C.'s distributors about 10 yrs ago, as I recall DC replaced them without charge. Was an issue with the rubber formulation as I recall.

No, I got them from C&G Early Ford Aug 2012. I think that the rubber was old back then when I put them on. As you know you have to stretch them to get them over the ball ends. They never returned to a shape that sealed against the ball shaft.

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A lot of the products we buy from various vendors are all supplied by one manufacturer/part. You can buy quite a few parts from almost any vendor selling '53 - '56 parts and find 'DC' cast/molded into them. Chances are the boots you aren't happy with may have been from that ill-fated DC production run, no matter where you bought them.

The only thing I can think of but might be a pain in the rear is to grease them more often to push the dirt and grime out. Just a thought. I have the metal cover but had to modify it since the tabs would hit the tire when I turned hard left this is on a cpp steering setup.

I am NOT an engineer, but it seems to me that if you are going to power steering, then you already have some shock resistance built into the system. The PS rack itself will provide some sort of shock resistance to road hazards

I contacted Steinjager and they said that they could not help. I guess I'll order a new set of seals and stick with the original drag link.

One more thought... After re-reading your initial post I recalled an issue I had when I first rebuilt a Roosa-Master FI pump on an Olds diesel (years ago.) If you took your time and tried to gently slide the shaft seal on it would ALWAYS tear. The trick was you had to lube it and the shaft then slap it down on the shaft as quickly as possible. The time spent in the stretched open position was more than the seal could stand but if installed quickly it was if it was over before it had a chance to tear.