Drag link hits U-bolt

[Kwisis]

Hi guys,

I decided to do some care and maintenance on my ride. One of the things i did was to replace the drag link due to the excessive steering play. The front leaf springs were also flattened out, and i though it would be a good idea to take it to the local "Spring worx" to reset. They added one leaf to the pack, and now the drag link hits the rear U-bolt, preventing it to turn left.

Has anyone dealt with this in the past? How did you overcome the problem?. Obviously i would try and get away from doing a cross over Hi-steer conversion, and i would not really want to remove the leaf that was recently added.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated....Please...

[The Legend]

Eisch you are moving on thin ice.The bolt screwing into the draglink is far too out.It skould go in much deeper so that you can push the split through the holes.On the photo it looks if the bolt catch the u bolt.The rear u bolt should be flat on the top.Did they not put it wrong back?The flat one in front and the rond one rear?

You will also see that my leaf pack consist of 6 blades and the steering drag does not catch the u bolt

[Kwisis]

Tnx for the reply. The bolt was not fastened at this point yet. I will turn it in to the required depth for the split pin to fit. I just showed the pic to explain where it catches.

The U-bolts are the correct way around. It is the drag link outer casing that hits the u bolt not the screw, but thanks for the input

[The Legend]

Losen the u bolt nuts and see if you can not move the rear u bolt a bit to the rear so that the steering draglink do not catch it.

[Mud Dog]

The U-bolt is incorrect. Check them all just in case they were mixed up by the fitters - that RHS rear bolt should be flatter on top. Otherwise go get a proper OME (not OEM) u-bolt from 4x4Megaworld who are the agents for OME.

[Stef]

Don't believe new U-bolts would solve the problem; it is the extra leaf that changes the angle of the drag link owing to the lift. You either need one of those adjustable drag links or you have to bend it in a press.

[Mud Dog]

Stef, it's not so much the extra lift (you would get the same and worse angles under articulation). It's the new height of the leaf-pack with the extra blade that brings the U-bolts higher and closer to the draglink. The replacement bolt for this (RHS rearward) has a flattened out corner that allows the link end to pass without fouling.

[Stef]

True... I did the axle move as well which definitely changed the angle as the axle moves closer to the steering box

[Mr_B]

Had the same problem on my old SFA after installing OME suspension, and moving the axle forward to accommodate 33" tyres. Hoppy bent the draglink at the bottom so it cleared u bolt. He also had it engineered so that is was length adjustable to compensate for the axle being moved forward.

Found this pic of it from when I replaced the axle:

[Andries]

DRAAI DIE LINK OM HY HET N KORT EN N LANG KANT.