Drag Link

Hello all! I have a 1970 jeep CJ 5 with the V6, factory winch and rear PTO. I am in the middle of a frame off and need some help figuring out a fix for the drag link. I bought a repair kit from Walks but it seems the springs are longer than original (which I believe I tossed). I have also heard there is a difference between the 4 cylinder and 6. the basic issue is when I load the spacer and springs (according to the manual which is nearly impossible to figure out the proper order of seats-spring-ball) there is no room to fit it over the ball on the bellcrank. I heated one of the springs and collapsed it a bit but its still too long. obviously I am concerned with the safety of my steering and want to get it fixed properly. Any help would be great.

thanks

Joe

 

thanks, I bought the rebuild kit from Walcks, Carl said sometimes they have issues and sometimes they don't so finding original springs is probably my best bet. Thanks for the tip.

Joe

 

Could you cut the new springs with a cut off wheel? You would lose some length but not hurt the spring. Just a thought. Good Luck what ever you do.

 

Heating a spring sounds like a Bad Idea to me, it might ruin the temper and lose it's strength. Drag links are a mission-critical life safety item.

And as you noted, it can be very confusing to get the parts in the right assembly order. Each end is a different sequence. It matters.

The archives here should have detailed threads on the topic if you search.

 

Heating a spring will ruin it.
Springs can be found in a lot of different lengths from places like McMaster Carr. Measure the over all length, the diameter of the spring and the wire diameter.

 

Sorry for the delayed response but i appreciate all the helpful information.