F250 Drag Link Movement

[Rollingrock]

Should the "tie rods" move this much...this part is called the drag link.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGrw-Ff6oIo[/youtube]

[Mike2301]

Jack the front of the truck up and move the wheels side to side by hand. If you can feel or hear a click your tie rod ends are done.

[Rollingrock]

Jack the front of the truck up and move the wheels side to side by hand. If you can feel or hear a click your tie rod ends are done.

We did that, all seems tight, just trying to figure out why we have movement on the drag link.

[Mike2301]

I'd go ahead and replace it. The link shouldn't be more than $100 + an alignment.

 You can try greasing it, sometimes that helps sometimes it doesn't.

580 out the door with Alignment. This is also Christian Brothers in Keller....they are a stand up organization.

[Mike2301]

How many miles do you got on it?

[Rollingrock]

How many miles do you got on it?

55K, we thought it was the Ball Joints but they are super tight.  This is the ONLY thing that has movement in it.

Makes me scratch my head a little.

[Mike2301]

They're not a big deal to replace.

How'd you check the ball joints?

You'd want to jack it up and put a prybar or pole under the tire and move it up and down

[Rollingrock]

They're not a big deal to replace.

How'd you check the ball joints?

You'd want to jack it up and put a prybar or pole under the tire and move it up and down

I will do the drag links and have them do the aliingment,  will save 300 bucks.

As for the ball joints, yes, put truck on alignment rack, lift 2" off pads, and use pry par for up and down (fore and aft) of tire. 

[Mike2301]

If the other link doesn't have play in it, you could probably leave it alone. The long bar is close to $300ish i think.

Just a FYI but another way to check for play on your tie rod ends, drag links, pitmans etc. is to take a big pair of Chanel locks and squeeze the joint to what it's bolted to.

[Rollingrock]

If the other link doesn't have play in it, you could probably leave it alone. The long bar is close to $300ish i think.

Just a FYI but another way to check for play on your tie rod ends, drag links, pitmans etc. is to take a big pair of Chanel locks and squeeze the joint to what it's bolted to.

Both sides have equal play...makes me wonder if that is normal or not right.

[Too Stroked]

It's tough to see in your video, but some of what you may have is just normal rotational movement in the rod ends. What you don't want is lateral play where the ball and socket have actually worn out / loosened up and it "clanks" back and forth. I've seen tie rod ends go with 50-60 thousand miles on them - but on F-350s used for snow plowing. F-150's have had lots of tie rod end problems.

My advice? If in doubt, replace both of them and have it aligned.

[Rollingrock]

The shop wants 580 to replace the tie rods and alignment. 

That seems high to me.

They said, to drive it until it gets worse b/c they can see nothing really out of the norm.

[Rollingrock]

someone just told me that more than likely its the Sway Bar End Links that are bad. 

Not sure which one under there is the sway bar..

The point was made that they end links bushing go bad and when they do, its metal on metal which causes a clunk noise...who knows.

[Kitzy]

I've replaced my sway bar end links many times.  I go though them like they're water.  On all of my vehicles I've had.  I usually notice a slight clunk noise when I turn.  Then after I fix them I notice how much the front end stiffened up and how much lean there was during turning before them.  I've gotten pretty good at fixing them.  About 15 minutes and I'm done. 

[Rollingrock]

my noise isn't associated with turning per say, I hear it on bumps...speed bumps for sure.