Adj. Drag Link/Tie Rod Question

[Comemonday67]

Hi Guys! I have installed a new tie rod that is on top of the knuckle rather than under. As a result the tie rod is binding up against the bolt on the axle (passenger side) which fastens the adjustable track bar (see photo). Have you guys see this before? Know of any solution? Thanks!

 

[SavageBurro]

What are the angle differences between trac bar and drag link? IF the angles would be improved by raising the axle end of the trac bar, then you could do a trac bar riser to solve both the interference and the poor angle.

 

[SteveL]

Looks like the adjuster hitting. Will the Tie-rod clear if you move the adjusting sleeve or is that possible? I've seen some guys cut the track bar stud down

 

[bronconut73]

I think Duff has a special nut you can use, then you can cut the stud down.

 

[Joe473]

I think Duff has a special nut you can use, then you can cut the stud down.

I agree on the shorter lock nut vs castle nut and cutting down stud also agree that a track bar riser is probably in order with the tie rod flip. Some brackets use that stud to located new riser bracket.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Slednut10]

On mine, I had to trim the stud and use a 3/4-16 flanged toplock nut to clear the drag link.

 

[Comemonday67]

Thank you all for the great feedback. I think I may try to trim the stud and use a 3/4-16 flanged toplock nut. Update will follow. Thanks again!

 

[DirtDonk]

As you've found, it's very common for that to interfere. Even more when a larger diameter tie-rod is used.
The usual suspects have been mentioned, but I'll add that the riser is proper for not only gaining the clearance but also correcting the trackbar-to-draglink angles.

Did you already install a trackbar drop? Are you lifted enough that a dropped pitman arm was used as well? Or are you running the stock pitman arm with your TRO setup?
What other changes have you made to the steering system?

Got a pic from straight on so we can see the whole setup you've got?

Thanks

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Thank you all for the great feedback. I think I may try to trim the stud and use a 3/4-16 flanged toplock nut. Update will follow. Thanks again!

Would try that first then other alternatives if for some reason it don't work

 

[Comemonday67]

DirtDonk thanks for the response!

I have installed a WH 2 1/2 inch suspension (springs & leaves) , 7 degree C bushings and degreed rubber strut arm bushings, drop pitman arm and track bar drop bracket as well as 3 way adjustable tie rod and drag link (all purchase from WH). I was thinking about installing a track bar riser offered by WH but in their website it says (in the instructions) "track bar riser should not be used with less than 3 1/2 inch suspension lift." Thanks again for the response!!

 

[DirtDonk]

Hey Comemonday, thanks!
And yeah, it's better when you have more lift (the riser is tall enough that it becomes a potential interference thing), but sometimes you have to punt.
What happened here is the change to TRO has changed the whole dynamic of the steering linkage.
Using the dropped pitman arm AND dropped trackbar bracket is only called for when the tie-rod is in the stock location. They're designed to work together, so when you change one aspect from stock, you may have to deal with others.

In your picture you can clearly see the relationship between the trackbar and draglink is no longer parallel due to the now-higher location of the tie-rod.
But in some ways, you're on track to making it even better! You can kill two birds with one stone if you modify your lower trackbar mount now.

The solution is either going to be a custom trackbar drop to replace the off-the-shelf version (less desirable), or raise the lower mount just a little (very desirable). What you're looking for is to have the pivot points of the draglink and the pivot points of the trackbar equal distances from the ground (as a convenient point of reference) so that they travel in the same arc/plane.

A riser is too tall, and you probably only need the first hole anyway. You could then cut off the remaining riser plate so that your clearance is not compromised.
But a custom lower mount would let you fine-tune your trackbar location and do two things. Bring the bars back to parallel (which would dictate the ultimate height of the new mount) AND give you that clearance you need at the lower bolt vs tie-rod location.

So while you can shorten the bolt and use a low-profile nut to gain the tie-rod clearance, you would still have a misalignment issue to take care of.
And believe me, you WILL feel the misalignment you have when driving the Bronco on the street.

Very slick looking in white like that by the way. Very cool.
But you definitely need to tackle the entire front end suspension and steering geometry as a single system that has several aspects that all have to play nice together if you want to get the best setup you can for driving.

Paul

 

[Comemonday67]

Good Evening DirtDonk!

Say great response. Thanks for taking the time and very educating by the way! Very much appreciated for sure. Unfortunately I do not have the time or resources to do a custom trackbar drop. However, I can order an off-the-shelf version (less desirable) and modify it accordingly using the first (or second hole) hole which should get me close to where I need to be (bring the bars back to parallel).

Thanks for the complement on the color of things; it means a lot to me! I have owned her since 1985 (my first car ever owned - bought her form pulling weeds and collecting aluminum cans).

 

[migs]

One quick thing to try for correcting your angles would be to go back to the stock pitman arm, going tie rod over often negates the need for a dropped pitman arm.
Ideally you'd want to check and set them up with the weight on the front end and at ride height, a drag link and track bar of different lengths will not remain at exactly the same angle relative to each other as the suspension cycles up and down.
If it ends up working out, then grinding off some of the track bar stud for clearance would be the simplest solution to go along with it.

 

[DirtDonk]

I was actually going to mention checking out migs' threads to see if he's got a custom riser!
Glad he's popped in here to clear up if he's got something or not.

And yeah, you could go back to stock arm. That "might" put your bars in parallel, but only testing will show if it does or not.
The reason I like the idea of raising the lower end some more though, is that along with killing the first bird of gaining the clearance you need at the lower trackbar mount, it kills the second bird of making the overall angles of the links as shallow as possible. Taking full advantage of the TRO setup.

But he's got a good point. Since this is only a 2.5" lift in the first place, it's likely you really don't need the angles to be much shallower anyway.
You lose the benefit of more clearance at the lower bolt, but since you can shorten that, there is still a fairly straightforward and inexpensive cure.

Good luck either way!

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, and clearance aside, trying the stock pitman arm does afford you an easy system check because you have it handy.
And because of that, it's potentially a free fix too!

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Ok, one last point... Sorry

You can also rotate your tie-rod centerlink down slightly if you need to. Looks from the pic like your lower draglink zerk fitting is pointed almost vertical? This is not a horrible thing, but the proper angle is 60-61 degrees up, which points it more at the front of the radiator rather than at the back, or vertical.

It's just another aspect of the fully adjustable steering. And one that does have an effect on the draglink angle as well, since as you rotate the tie-rod one way or the other, the draglink end will go up or down. Changing the overall angle.

It's a fine-tuning thing once it's all together.

Paul

 

[Comemonday67]

Thanks for the pointer Paul! Keep them coming!

 

[DirtDonk]

Sure thing. I've got one word for you...

"Plastics";D

Paul

 

[migs]

Thanks for the props, Paul! My riser is typically positionable in the 3"-4" rise range, could possibly be modified for less but I don't know about going as low as it looks like it would be in that picture.

If you add a track bar riser I would ditch the drop bracket. That would also net you the additional benefit of less leveraged stress on the frame rail.
either way you're back to needing the drag link to come up, with the stock pitman arm or possibly moving it to the top of the current arm.

Here's my '70 with 3-1/2" lift, tie rod over, stock pitman arm and track bar riser