[28chevyguy]

hey guys been a while but here I come crawling back !    So i need to make the steering drag bar ,  im running the 28 gear box and a early 50's truck front axle .

So should it be hollow or solid ?  I need to source the end pieces and get it figured out .   The axle is dropped so the bar will end up having an up curve .   One of those jobs that I ended up over thinking and here we are !!   

I appreciate any help / expertise in the matter thanks !

[sixball]

I will be doing the same thing. '26-'27 box with '49 pickup axle & spindles.  I'm not using a dropped axle but mounting the axle on top if the spring and with the stock drop of the pickup axle the drag link will have to have a "z", the box moved up, or the connection to the spindles lowered. I'll be following this to see what you come up with. I think a tube would be best. It would be easier to attach the ends and be lighter. Bending the tube might be harder and it would probably need gussets to keep it rigid. It may not be pretty.

[Essex_29]

Having the drag link at an angle is not ideal, it might cause bump steer. They say. I had the drag link on
my Essex fairly steeply angled, and I didn't experience that there would have been excessive bump steer,
even if the ride was fairly soft.
I made the drag link from a Ford Transit van (straight axle) tie rod. it was tubular, and I just mounted it
diagonal. I did have to change the front tie rod end to one with more articulation though, becasue the
Ford one bottomed out.

Here's the best pic I found. You can kinda see the angle.


The box is off a seventies VW bus

[28chevyguy]

Thanks for the replies and motivation !  Going to get to it soon !

[sixball]

Another option from looking at the picture from Essex-29 is that the box could be raised about the length of the pitman arm. That would likely mean one or more U-joints in the column and a notch in the hood side if you run one. Maybe tough to clear the exhaust on a V8. 

[Essex_29]

I should have added that I made the steering arm myself, and it pointed straight out from where the
top of the kingpin is located.
The steering arm shoud really have snaked forward and down, so that the draglink would come as far
down as possible, just above the axle beam.

The issue with tis setup aw that when I hit the brakes, the axle rolled forward (destroying the caster)
and it would steer right. It drove okay, but when braking, I had my hands full. The Essex was my first
car build, and I made my fair share of mistakes.

And yes, like sixball says, you should consider all options, because a level dragling will always work
that much*) better.

*) unspecified amount.