[stevelknievel]

My 96 is sas'd and I'm trying to get the slop out of my front end. Most of said slop is where the drag link mounts to the tie rod the draglink does not sit in the taper properly. If the wheels are pointing straight I can move the drag link at the tie rod I've removed it and the taper on the drag link looks ok and I don't see any obvious wear in the taper of the tie rod. And the joint in the drag link seems good and tight still. I'm thinking it's the tie rod and it's just had the taper wore out of it. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[Seattle FSB]

Normal.

If you are refering to a rotation of the enitire drag link forward to back, the tie rod end will moderately rotate when physically manipulated. That is how the joint is designed.
There should be no side to side movement, lateral to the vehicle and longitudinal to the drag link. There should be no visible delay in movement when the steering wheel is operated.

My concern is your statement "the drag link does not sit in the taper properly". What do you mean and do you have pics? Do you have the correct drag link?

 

[stevelknievel]

As far as the drag link I can only assume so because this is how I got the rig. By play what I mean is if the wheels are straight I can shake the drag link at the tie rod as if it's not been properly tightened (upon further inspection when I tried to reinstall it I cannot get it tightened properly because the drag link will not seat tight enough into the tie rod to hold the joint so it just keeps spinning.

 

[Seattle FSB]

52-74 ft-lbs torque on the castle nuts? Replace it.

 

[stevelknievel]

The drag link or the tie rod first

 

[Seattle FSB]

Sorry, tie rod end on the drag link. That is what you are having a problem in seating properly. Personally, I would just get a new entire drag link with tie rod end in case it is bent, but more money.

Caveat: With your SAS, are the spindles the same OEM?

 

[stevelknievel]

Ok new tie rod will be purchased tomorrow and put on and I'll update thank you! And again I'm not sure what's what but if it will help I can take some pics tomorrow and send them to you

 

[stevelknievel]

ok again this might be another dumb question but i purchased the tie rod and tossed it on and its good however now i have 2 issues. 1 the drag link has a smaller joint at the pitman arm than it does at the tie rod, the bigger taper will not fit into the tie rod properly (and upon closer inspection it looks like the PO just bored out the tie rod so it fit which was causing all the play). and the replacement drag link is about 4 inches longer and it looks like they cut and welded it back together. so my question is, does anyone know of a replacement link thats not going to have the different sized joints, or do i have any other options besides tres or heims and DOM?