MTFCA Forum

50 degrees and sunshine today in Michigan, so I decided to wake up my hibernating 15. I noticed the drag link has a lot of play at both ends. Any suggestions to remedy this? Thanks Brent.

Either file the caps down or install a formed shim.

Both ends have a cap held on by two bolts and jamb nuts. If the caps are not tight, you can tighten them and then turn down the nuts and pin in place. Usually, however, the surface is worn down and even when tight, there is room for the ball to move inside the socket. This can be remedied by filing down the cap to make it fit, however, don't file so far that it weakens the cap. A temporary fix is to put something inside the end of the drag link to take up the slack. A piece of thick leather soaked in oil will fix this for a while, but will need to be replaced from time to time. If the ball is still round, a more permanent fix would be to fill the ends of the rod by welding and then grinding out with a ball shaped cutting tool. Replacement caps are available from the vendors. Be sure to grease up the socket with thick grease such as wheel bearing grease, and replace the grease from time to time to prevent wear in the future.

The vendors also sell the ball shaped shims that can be added inside the ball joint to tighten things up a bit. You can also use a penny that’s been oval shaped. Get a socket and place a penny or a electrical box knockout and use a ball peen hammer to shape to fit.
Temporary fixes that will work.
If the tie rod ends are worn then there is wear through out the front end assembly. Might be a good time to jack the front end of the car and slowly move the wheels back and forth.

You might be in for a surprise to see the slack through out the front end. That’s the best way to check for front end looseness and wear.

Thank you gentleman, I will try to file,shim and grease.I feel you will be correct John,there will be more front end attention needed.

You should also measure the "ball" on the tie-rod and check for roundness before you go removing a bunch of material off the cap on that end. If it's too worn, you will be in great shape to go straight after filing the cap, but not so much for turning. It is replaceable. The Pitman arm''s ball is also a place to look, though it should wear much more evenly.

I will check roundness first Scott. Makes total sense thank you.

There is also an APCO ball cap for the drag link, if the ball is out of round.
https://www.modeltford.com/item/2728APCO.aspx