Help w/WH 3 Way Adjustable Tie Rod and Drag Link

[Squid]

Have been working on installing the front portion of my Wild Horses 2 1/2 Lift Kit with 14 piece bushings and 3 way adjustable tie rod and drag link. After spending a lot of time getting the radius arms into shape my son and I started the install and although I had read a lot about C Bushing troubles ours went in quickly since we followed the directions provided by Heuss33.

Problem came up when I got to the part of reinstalling the tie rod and drag link. I mocked up all of the measurements based on the old unit and really thought that this would be a drop in replacement. Tie Rod went in without a hitch and then I installed the drag link and realized it was not going to fit. (1st Picture)

I have some pictures below to show that when the tie rod in bolted up and I install the drag link into the Pitman Arm that I am still several inches away from being able to insert the drag link into the tie rod. I tried jacking the differential up as high as it would go before it started linting the frame off of the jack stands and still could not get there.

Other pictures below show that I took off the original drag link and installed it and it fit. There is also a picture of my Pitman Arm which I believe is a drop (Picture 3). You can see that even with the old drag link, the shaft is pinned all the way to the right which makes me think I need more drop on the pitman arm.

I assume someone will ask so I will post it now, I am going from a 2.5 or so lift to a new 2.5 inch lift. As a matter of fact the old springs are maybe 1/2 - 1 inch taller.

I assume that I am just hooking something up wrong or missing something obvious. It has been a long weekend and a bit hot so I called it a day and hope that you guys can give me some things to try tomorrow after work.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[JSBX]

It is hard for me to tell in the picture how far off the drag link end is from going in the hole on the tie rod but it looks like you just need to turn out on the adjuster on the drag link until it lines up unless it already adjust all the way out. Also is your steering box centered?

 

[ScanmanSteven]

Have you tried adjusting the drag link? The threaded portion can be lengthened quite a bit, which from your photo looks like its adjusted all the way in. Hope this helps.

 

[Squid]

I have tried adjusting out and in, but it is really more of an issue with the angle of the drag link compared to the tie rod. I can pull down on the drag link and get it close but with way too much tension. I also don;t think that the pin going into the Pitman Arm should be max'd out to the right either. Is that bad?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[savage]

I have the 3.5 inch WH and the adjustible threeway with a drop pitman arm.I had to rotate my tie rod so the drag linkage was at a different angle to get it to work.Dirtdonk,has good pointers on how to get it to work, he help me with mine,plus others will chime in with good advice.

 

[Squid]

Yours looks just like I thought that mine would go in, but it will not articulate that far down without a lot of pressure. When you compare the side by side they look the same, but for some reason I cannot get this one close.

 

[broncodriver99]

Looks like I am not the only one who has been fighting steering linkage this weekend.

The only thing I can see and it may just be the pictures is that your pitman arm looks to be twisted to the drivers side where mine and savage's are twisted to the passengers side. That still doesn't explain why your old drag link fits and the new one doesn't as the new one should have the same or better travel in the ball joints. Can you get a better pic of the pitman arm to see which way the lower flange it twisted?

 

[Squid]

Here is another picture of the pitman arm. My phone camera sucks so they are not super clear.

Pic #1 is looking at the pitman arm from drivers side to passengers side. I can clearly see that my pitman arm does not drop as far as Savage's.

The second picture is looking from Passenger side to driver Side. Hard to see but you should be able to make out how far apart the drag link bolt is from the tie rod. Keep in mind that both the tie rod and drag link to pitman arm are fully seated.

Jim

 

[broncodriver99]

It definitely looks like that pitman arm is twisted the wrong direction. I bet it is for a vehicle with a forward facing pitman like an f series truck or later bronco. Is there a part number on it? That 30 degrees twisted the other direction would make a big difference in how far down the drag link could pivot.

 

[broncodriver99]

Also it looks like the rod end is seated too deep in the pitman arm. Can you get a shot of it installed without the dust shield? It looks like it may be too deep and limiting the amount of travel in the joint. The old link looks to sit farther away allowing more travel.

 

[Squid]

BroncoDriver,

I am not sure what you mean by the pitman arm being twisted. Are you referring to it twisting in the horizontal axis i.e. like when the steering whel turns it, or do you see something that makes you think it is twisted on the vertical axis? I have a large folder of receipts that the previous owner gave me, I will go up and look to see if I can find a part number.

With regard to your comment about the rod seated to far into the pitman arm I thought the same thing but the cotter key hole is within the cutouts of the crown nut.

R/
Jim

 

[broncodriver99]

What I mean by twisted is if you look down the pitman arm from the front of your bronco at the flat surface of the ring part of the pitman arm where it mounts to the steering box versus the flat surface where the drag link connects to the pitman arm you will see that they aren't true to each other. A stock bronco pitman arm and drop pitman arms designed for an EB and rear facing pitman vehicles will have the area where the drag link connects twisted/rotated towards the pass side meaning the LH part of that surface is lower than the RH side. A pitman arm designed for a forward facing vehicle would be the opposite as when it is mounted facing forward it would be twisted to the pass side as well. The idea is to reduce the angle on the drag link joints.

Attached is a picture of a stock bronco pitman arm which I am running and have no problem getting the drag link to mount to the tie rod and still have range left in the upper joint. If you notice the two flat surfaces appear to be twisted in the opposite relation of your pitman arm.

Also, when the nut is torqued on the upper drag link joint the cotter pin hole should only just have cleared the lower portion of the caste nut. It shouldn't be several threads deep. Have you tried installing the new drag link without the upper dust shield on? I bet it will go further into the pitman arm without it and is limiting the travel in that joint.

 

[broncodriver99]

These are the angles I am talking about and their relation to each other.

 

[roundhouse]

I just installed this same setup

Try inserting the drag link into the tie rod first

Then into the pitman arm
Then slide the pitman arm onto the steering box

I also got a new pitman arm with the kit so my old one was already off
But I had the same problem as you
It wouldn't reach unless I did the pitman arm connection last and extended out the drag link a little to fit
Then it went together just fine

But as someone pointed out.
The pitman arm is supposed to have a slight twist right where the tie rod connects
And it looks like in the picture that yours has the twist is the wrong direction
But it's hard to be sure from the pic


What's holding me up right now is that there IS NO instructions included with the parts
And I have a thick plastic bushing and a metal washer that apparently fits onto one end of the bushing
But no clue where the busing goes

In the drag link and tie rod connection?

In the drag link to pitman arm connection?

 

[broncodriver99]

What's holding me up right now is that there IS NO instructions included with the parts
And I have a thick plastic bushing and a metal washer that apparently fits onto one end of the bushing
But no clue where the busing goes

In the drag link and tie rod connection?

In the drag link to pitman arm connection?

Here is my thread about that bushing from yesterday. If it is the same one I was talking about. I posted a factory diagram of the linkage that shows where they go and the proper order.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229557

The metal washer should go against the drag link and then the bushing in the drag link to tie rod connection. It shouldn't be plastic but a really stiff rubber.

 

[Squid]

My stock setup had that same bushing and metal piece and the rubber went against the drag link with the metal against the tie rod. As for the twist, I will take a look tomorrow and verify, but I think you are correct, I think mine twists toward the drive.

Still makes me wonder why it worked before. Can one of you with a drop pitman arm tell me how far it drops from the top of the arm to the bottom?

Thanks,
jim

 

[Squid]

I have the original pitman arm in a box of parts I got from the P.O, should I put that on or is a drop pitman arm required for a 2.5 inch lift?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[PaveBronco]

That’s strange, on my WH 3 way adjustable tie rod set up the drag link looks like this. I was told by WH that this is how they come and I have to work out the steering damper set-up myself. The angle was tight and at full droop actually cut the dust boot, they sent me a thinner one which works, but still odd.. looks to me like an F-150 rod end..

 

[Squid]

Pave bronco,

It is hard to tell because the picture is upside down on my iPad, but I see a couple of things different.
1. It looks like your tie rod is installed over vice under
2. It looks like the tie rod end is installed to the pitman arm. The reason I say this is because of the hole where the dark link ball joint should be installed.
3. It looks like you have the stock pitman arm and with a 3.5 inch lift I think you are recommended to get the drop arm.

Jim

 

[broncodriver99]

I am running the stock pitman arm with a 2.5" lift and the drag link/trac bar angles are perfect. I would ditch the drop pitman arm for anything less than a 3.5" lift.

I am guessing WH uses a different part for the separate adjustable drag link than the one that comes in the linkage kit. I have the same WH drag link as PaveBronco that I installed and then removed in favor of the TBP adjustable drag link which is identical to what Squid is installing.