drmathewda

Hello all,

Forgive me if this has come up previously, but I was wondering if there is any steering wheel location consideration when replacing the drag link. I replaced every moving part of my steering and suspension, save the pitman arm, and got the wheels on last night. With the steering wheel in the should-be-driving-straight position the wheels are about 20 degrees turning left. I have not had an alignment yet but am wondering if I screwed something up. With the steering wheel 180 degrees from 'normal', the wheels are 'straight'. Please tell me I don't I've to take it all apart again. Any help is appreciated.

houtex

My first question is to ask if the wheel turns the correct amount lock to lock, and the wheel is in the same, but mirrored, position at each lock.

It should turn about, what 3.75 turns? Which means that if you start on the left, the wheel should be pointed to the bottom left of the car. Turn it all the way right, it will be pointed to the bottom right. If this is not true, the problem isn't alignment, it's the steering box.

Here's the right test: Disconnect the linkage so the steering box is free, then figure out where true 'top dead center' is. You may have to disconnect the pitman arm, but I kind of doubt that. (Caveat: I don't actually know if there's internal stops, so it may just spin about... but that's ok, you're trying to get a true TDC out of this.)

Now, without connecting the linkage to the wheels, align the wheels so they're straight.

If it is all right, then the pitman arm and the drag link will be lined up. If not, the pitman arm was moved to accomodate a different drag link... or your drag link is different.

You can fix this two ways. Reposition the pitman arm, or cut the tie rods that won't allow you to reposition the wheels correctly. Mine was the left side tie rods, and I had them cut down 1/2 inch each and rethreaded. That fixed my issue, which was the same as yours, the alignment was impossible. And the alignment afterwards was exactly right. The draglink had been swapped somewhere, and when I replaced it, whoops... It was weird.

And yes, there are different drag links, and it's mainly a cross swap between I6 Falcons and I6 Mustangs. I don't know why they're different, but they are, apparently. There was also a different two for the power steering versions.

You wont' be taking *everything* apart, but you'll likely be repositioning the pitman arm to fix it, or having the tie rods cut and re-machined, but it's otherwise going to be ok.

At least... that's my guess at this, given previous experience... :shrug:

/Oh yeah a third option: Cut the drag link and put a tie rod sleeve on it so it's adjustible. That'll drive them nuts. Which is why I didn't do it.

drmathewda

Thank you! I'll get my head under there and get to looking! Very much appreciated.

drmathewda

I may have panicked a bit early. After driving it back and forth in my driveway (which must have looked smart) it seems fine now....what a noob.

houtex

Hey, as long as it's right, then all is good in the world. I'm glad you ain't gotta mess with it like I did!

drmathewda

A bit after the fact but it turns out that the problem was in the tie rods. The 'replacement' sleeves were too long alignment could not be made (at least with the steering wheel) without taking it off and repositioning it to TDC when the wheels were straight (aligned)...i.e. after the shop aligned it, i had to reposition the steering wheel since the sleeves were too long.