Drag Link And Tie Rod

I'm looking to tighten up the front end. Anyone have any experience with the Rugged Ridge drag link and tie rod set-up on a narrow track Dana 30?

 

Haven't tried that setup, but one thing I have found that is very often neglected on old Jeeps and causes a lot of the steering slop are the King Pin bearings.

These are supposed to be repacked as part of routine service but this is almost always neglected.

The tie rod upgrade may solve your problems, but you should also service the king pins and replace bearings if out of spec.

 

Year, model, equipment? Unless you are running a 30 from a Wagoneer, they have ball joints not king pins. You should not need any add-ons for a narrow 30. Replace any worn parts, set the caster and toe-in, and you're done.

If yours is newer than 1971, you're in the wrong forum.

Welcome from Boston!

 

I think the same advice may apply to the "knuckle pivot pin" bearings that serve the same function as king pins.

 

Ball joints are "knuckle pivot pins?" Never heard them called that. The knuckle does pivot on them. Thinking about this, maybe the OP wants to apply the Dana 30 parts to a closed knuckle axle? From his post I understood that he owns a narrow 30 and wants to "tighten it up." Again, I suggest a narrow 30 only needs to be in good condition to be sufficiently tight. This would include ball joint replacement, as needed. And poor alignment will seem bad, clearly.

 

All the Jeeps I have owned were between 44 and 67 so I am only experienced with the closed knuckle axles used in those. Didn't realize the Dana 30 had ball joints, but the same thing applies as far as paying attention to all points of wear. Steering slop is usually more than tie rod ends.

 

From the factory manual. But serving as king pins do.

When I hear "ball joint" I think two wheel drive A-frame suspension.

 

I'm with Tim. If this has the stock drag link and tie rod and they are still in decent shape, no need to replace. Just get new TRE's (I like Moog). But maybe we need more information on the Jeep.

 

This. If the 27 has been replaced by a 30, then we don't know what else has been done to it. It could have anything from the original stock Ross unit to some hacked in Hilux PS box.
Also, "tightening up the front end" can mean almost anything. Can you be more specific as to the issue?
More information (including anything done inside the cab) and pictures would be a huge help.

 

OP has not been back since his post.

 

Thanks for the reply's. I am swapping in a 1978 narrow track Dana 30 in place of the Dana 27. Everything is stock with the exception of the steering which has been upgraded to power. I was planning on replacing the spring and shackle bushings while I was doing the swap and was considering the heavy duty tie rod and drag link but it sounds like just replacing the ends would do the trick. The Dana 30 has been rebuilt including the ball joints.

By "tightening up" I mostly meant to keep it tracking straight at higher speeds. Mainly looking for advice on easy fixes or things I should do while I am swapping the axle.

This is for a 1969 Jeepster Command so probably the wrong forum but it seems the tech is similar and this forum has a lot of good advice.

 

Be sure you have something like 5-7 degrees positive caster after installation. Likely you will need tapered shims on the spring packs.

There is a Jeepster forum here, but plenty of pre-72 CJ owners have gone to the 30. Broad agreement it's an excellent upgrade.

 

if you need those, i believe @Mcruff makes them

 

You may have to modify the drag link length to match your steering set-up.

 

I agree with this 110%. With an axle swap and power steering mod, there’s no telling how long (or short) of a drag link you will need. And unfortunately it seems difficult to get exact measurements from the manufacturers.

I ended up asking quadratec for some measurements on various crown and omix drag links, and found one close enough that it only required a little bit of grinding to make it work.