I just bought some at a place called Metal Liquidators in New Castle, DE. Awesome place. I got 52 pounds (about 15') for around $30 -- it was $0.60 a pound.

How's this compare to prices where you are? I've priced it on the internet and it's out of this world price wise.

Only problem with this place is they may not have it when you need it. I bought a bunch so I can eventually fab the entire steering from it. For now, I'm just making a new draglink using Chevy TRE's -- actually they're not TRE's they're high-misalignment draglink ends. ES2026R and ES2027L.

We had a bunch of snow and all and the place was definitely not busy when I was there, lol.

I bought weld-in inserts but they've been delayed in arriving by weather so I guess I won't get to make the thing this weekend. The TRE's I'll just get locally.

If you're doing linkages with the chevy TRE's and need jam nuts, here's a good source on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=022

I bought a pair and they're $10.95 including shipping for the pair and they're the kind with set screws to lock them down even better.

 

So your not running one like this?



I didnt know they had a 2026R maybe i bought the wrong parts... lol
Here is the 2027L



I bought this from Ballistic
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/...p_16-1203.html

they are using a bit different part numbers maybe that one is cheaper?




As for the steel that is dirt cheap... i paid almost 90 for 2 58" pieces of 1.5" DOM .25 wall

 

I thought so. The guy who told me about the place claims to have paid even less and at first I thought I'd been "taken" -- until I priced it, lol. Well, if you ever get out this way, I'll take you down there.

The difference is that the 2026/2027 are designed to be drag-link ends. The 2333 and what not are designed to be tie-rod ends. The 2026/2027 have higher misalignment angle than the others, allegedly. I haven't ever tried to verify this.

I just didn't need the one with the hole for the drag like, so I'm using the others to keep it "tidy" so-to-speak.

I saw the Ballistic fab stuff but decided to just get the ends locally to start. If it turns out that the B-Fab stuff is actually that much stronger, I may buy it instead. It's only about $10 more than local stuff for each end.

I won't be doing serious rock-crawling for awhile with this. For now, just having a strong, adjustable drag link will be a luxury! My current one appears strong enough, but it doesn't allow me to properly center the wheel and steering box.

 

Well honestly I am not sure what end is which with the ballistic stuff. i have them but really have not looked at them long enough to figure out which goes where. the thing is i bought there high steer arms and i cant get them side by side on the high steer arm... its really tight...

i probably will not use that one with the drag link either. i bought the whole steering kit with the DOM and tube ends too.

 

Decisions, decisions!

Well, I'm not going high steer yet. Just going to the beefier parts will be enough for me for now. That's a future mod.

I'm putting on the drop pitman arm and drop track bar bracket tomorrow to get my angles down where they belong and get the last of the steering bump stuff gone. The steering is very easy and stable now, except during body roll and bumps over a certain amount.

The problem with the F-150/Bronco suspension is that the track bar and the draglink are not the same length. So even with them at about the same angle, bump steer occurs. When they're both horizontal, that's at a minimum.

I don't like the drop pitman so much because of potential strength and the extra leverage it puts on the sector shaft. But I'm going to save up and send out my spare steering box to AGR and have it fully rebuilt and ported for a ram. It should last until then.

 

so how are you tieing the drag link to the tie rod if you are not using that one TRE?

ive got similar issues as well. but it works for now with the D30..

 

I'm using the stock tie rod for now that already has the hole.

When I do the conversion to a fabbed tie rod I'll be welding a mount on the tie rod for the drag link and drilling and tapering it for the chevy TRE. It'll be a piece of like 3/4" plate radiused and welded to the DOM. Not sure how thick it needs to be but whatever gives me the right depth for the TRE stud.

I bored out the hole in the drop track bar mount tonight for a 5/8" bolt rather than the 9/16" that is stock. I also cut some small welded tube to make 5/8" ID spacers to space the ball of the heim properly on the 5/8" bolt. I'll just be using my modified stock bar for now, but I'll be building one out of this same 1.5" OD 1/4" wall DOM.

The new bar will use weld in inserts for 3/4" thread and I'll be using chromemoly 3/4" stud, 5/8" hole heims that have a 48,000 pound rating and they'll be on both ends. Stud on the axle for the bar is also 5/8". They're those kevlar/teflon types that are self lubricating and tend to last longer when abused.

Probably getting them from QS Components or some other place like that. They have everything I'll need and they only charge $8 for shipping no matter how much you buy which helps make it even better. I'm not sure about their inserts yet though as they generally use 1.25" OD .120" wall DOM and I think their inserts maximum diameter is a bit small probably. I haven't decided sources yet.

Hey, the title of this bores most folks so we get a private SAS discussion, lol.

 

sounds like a beefy pan hard setup. mine are 7/8" w/ 3/4" ballCrMo rod end w/ kevlar liner, which are a lot beefer then i thought they would be...

you know this is the one thing that bugs me with my D30 setup... 7/16" bolt on the axle end and a 7/16" bolt on the frame end... after the dunes i bent that 7/16" down on the axle end. i really dont like it at all. it can be fixed but at this point i might as well wait on the D44.

i worked on my setup this morning... kinda mocking it up. you can see my track bar. i am making it out of some DOM i had laying around. some 1.5" with .120 wall, should be more than adequate for my build. i really wanted to used 1.75" .25" wall but since i had it might as well use it.





btw i like these types of threads... its what sparks my attention. lol not the i got some new rubber threads or added tint! nothing wrong with that but i am just into fabbin stuff. haha

 

Ha ha! Yes, and I'm into it more and more all the time. Keep in mind this is very new to me as I've primarily been an electrical and software guy my whole life, lol. The mechanics at work think it's a hoot that a "tech geek" type has become a "motorhead", lol.

Well what you're doing looks good to me. Your bar will mount nice and high which will keep you from having to drop the mount much if at all. It'll also put it up nice and high with your high steer setup which will give it a clean look. I like it anyway.

And those are definitely some beefy looking heims. I think with the bar up that high, and considering the track bar is primarily thrusting stress, that the .120 wall should be fine. I got a bunch of the 1/4" wall so I'm using it -- but I'm not sure it's necessary. It'll give me "bragging rights" lol for those that insist on the strongest whatever, lol.

What's the disc to the left (in the photo) of the track bar mount? Coil pads? That's what it looks like. That's going to be a cool setup, Zach. Much nicer than the "borrowed" design from the stock F-150 I put together -- but it's something I could handle at my stage of fab expertise, lol.

 

Man I can't wait til I get my shop...

 

ha! i know where you are coming from! i am the "IT guy" at work and most think i am crazy and very different since i can weld and run most of the machines they run everyday...

yeah if you can get .25" wall for that much i would use it all over too! i couldnt imagine trying to bend that though! lol


yeah that is a bucket on the left... its the ballistic XJ/TJ bracket replacement kit i bought. its a pretty good kit for only 100$





i like them because they are 1/4" my stock Jeep brackets are 1/8" the rubicon express kit is 3/16" i already twisted the brackets off the D30 out messing around in a field. i put the rubicon express brackets on it

i know where u are coming from with the stock brackets. i like your setup and would have done the same if i went D44, but that is why i went D30 had the brackets on it already.

 

Well, I welded up my new draglink yesterday and painted it. But the jam nuts didn't arrive so it's not on the truck yet.

But I did put my drop track bar mount on and my drop pitman arm. For steering stability I now HIGHLY recommend this. It's like night and day. I had to remove the steering stabilizer and it's still much better than it was.

Before any little body roll induced some steering wander. Now it's virtually non-existent. Today was the first long run driving it -- it felt good in test last night but I wanted to drive it the 18 or so miles to work on back roads to really see.

The angles are not perfectly horizontal -- there's still some slight angle. Apparently it's not enough to matter.

I'll figure out how to mount the steering stabilizer and get the new drag link on soon. In the next month or so I'll make the heavier duty tie rod probably.

Steering has just been an incredible ordeal -- from bad steering boxes to crappy angles and so on...just one thing after another to overcome.

It's really nice that it's finally starting to drive so well. I'd let my wife drive it now -- but I wouldn't prior to today -- that's how much it's improved.

 

thats great to hear john.

this is partially why i added a sway bar setup. with the D30 my highsteer is pretty limited and the pan hard mount is not the best. something i over looked when i choose the D30, which is the #1 reason I am switching to a D44 here in 2-3 months.

Steering has been my #1 problem as well. I am sure at one point we will both be happy with the setup.

no pictures?

 

I'll get some when I put the new drag link on. Right now, there's not much to see: a new pitman arm and the track bar mount drop bracket -- didn't think that was newsworth enough yet for pics, lol.

Only thing I might be concerned with is that the new draglink with the bigger ends in it is going to be at an even flatter angle -- don't know how much that will impact the overall situation if at all. Probably not too much.

I'm happy with the 5/8" bolt on both ends of the track bar now. I think bending that DOM is going to take some heat and I'm going to ask our fab shop guys here at work about it. For all I know they have something big, nasty and hydraulic to bend it as it is -- don't know.

The good news too is that the summit 5/8" heim I put on the track bar on one end is holding up great. It's still tight as could be when you try to move the ball just like it was new. After the "economy" one stretched out so fast, I was a bit worried but this one's fine. On the other end I have the stock-style bushing.

When I go to the heavy duty 5/8" heims with 3/4" shafting I'll be even less worried. We'll see how hard it's going to be to get that tubing bent and go from there I guess.

This whole SAS thing is kind of an experiment even when you work from what other people have done. That's what I tell people -- my truck is "experimental", lol...

 

well the flatter your pan hard and drag link get the easier it is in the joints. i think you should be fine.

i am really surprised no one else has posted in here. guess we are boring

 

Ha ha! Well, the title is to most folks I'm sure. This board is so busy anymore it's just not practical for most to click on every topic. I sure don't.

The only thing I was thinking about is that the track bar won't be flattening anymore -- just the tie rod. So they'll be just a little out of angular match.

 

why are you going to bend the pan hard? maybe i am mis understanding you but if it can go straight then i would make it straight...

 

To clear the diff cover during flex.

 

have you had it hit? why not just move the mount point forward? nothing says it has to be parallel to the axle.

 

It's forward now. I'll look at it again, but the factory one is bent and at this point moving the mount would be a big pain since I welded it.

I think though that with the thicker tubing I might have a clearance issue. It could probably go straight if I had a bar of stock thickness -- particularly with Heims at each end -- but the thicker DOM won't clear the cover I don't believe.

It's kind of a shallow "S" bend. It comes straight out from the mount for aways, then bends towards the axle after the diff cover, then back parallel to the axle again.

 

yeah i know what type of bend you are talking about. so far i just let mine hit the cover. it helps knock the rust off. LOL

I am hoping to clear it with the D44 setup

 

Well, it's not an obstacle. I found out our electrical maintenance group in the plate mill has a big hydraulic pipe and tube bender that should make easy work of it. So when I'm ready I should be able to get it bent...well, that didn't quite come out like I meant it to...ironically, folks have been telling me to get bent for years...

 

60 cents a pound is cheap as hell... I wish I could find it that cheap around here!