Possible dumb question - loose drag link

[rascal]

Should I be able to twist/manipulate my drag link by hand? It should be tight, correct?

I have had a slight vibration in the truck, that I feel mainly in the steering wheel @ 65mph+, and I think I have found it.

Thanks

[NoRalPh]

You're talking about the connection between the Pitman Arm (comes out of the steeringbox) and the Center Link (attaches the two hubs together) - right ? (to me a Drag Link goes front/rear from the Pitman to the knuckle)

Anyway, those "rod ends" really have to be able to "twist" and rotate as you turn while the suspension travels up & down. So, I'd say there's nothing wrong with the twist, as long as you see no Back & Forth slop. With the truck on the ground, have somebody wiggle the wheel side to side in whatever slop there is in the steering (there needs to be some) while you're underneath looking for that "play" to be in a particular end.

If it's mostly in the steeringbox, and none of the ends show slop, your vibration is coming from somewhere else (in most cases, steering linkage isn't the cause in a 4WD truck anyway...)

[7.3HeavyHauler]

hows your tires? new or been around the block a few times...I'm just throwing this out there but maybe you need your tires balanced

[rascal]

The tires are brand new when I got the truck. Had the static balancers tossed and had the wheels rotated and balanced. They balanced out really well too. Still vibrating.

I also noticed my front sway bar bushings have had it. I once rode in a car that was missing one of the front sway bar end links and that sucker vibrated something fierce. I have a Energy Suspension kit on the way to fix that.

I was just wondering if anybody else's drag link could be twisted/manipulated by hand easily.

Just to note the truck did this before I installed new ball joints, fixed spindle hubs, and axle u-joints.

Thanks guys!

[sniper_101]

Yeah they'll rotate over probably 20-30*. If you're still concerned about it, key on, engine off with the steering column unlocked, have someone crank the steering wheel left to right and check for play in the all the rod ends in the front end and your ball joints (going to need to jack the front end up to check the ball joints and the outer tie rod ends). Could find a worn ball joint the culprit.