Maybe a dumb question

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mrhollywood

mrhollywood

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Is the center link/drag link the same on '70 compared to a '73? The reason I ask is I'm really close to installing a Firm Feel suspension kit for a '73+ disc setup on my '70 Dart which uses '73 tie rods, lower ball joints and idler arm. I just want make sure I have all the right parts before I rip the whole car apart.
 
No. 72 and down is different than 73 and up. The difference being that the inner tie rods, pitman arm and idler arm enter the center link from the opposite direction (up on one, down on the other, I don't recall which is which). You need the proper center link to match the rest of your components.
 
The tie rods and ball joints don't affect the center link.

On 68 / later K members "what matters" is that some times you get locked in with a "big spline" steering box

So the steering box MUST of course fit the pitman

The pitman, idler, and center link all must match, IE all early, or all late.

You can use either late or early on any K member except 67, which has the oddball "on year" idler setup

Some stuff

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=236925

On my own car, I swapped from the 67 K to a 74 K "only." That is, to get that out of the way, as I can't work so much at once, and was not ready for the disk conversion.

So, I had an otherwise all stock 67 for awhile, but with a 74 K, 68--72 idler, but with all other 67 parts

Then I swapped disk brakes, so had the new K, the 74 disk / LCA / anti sway bar setup, but still with the 68--72 idler / pitman/ center link

THEN I decided to go with power steering at the tear down for paint (my arthritis)

So I ended up with a newer big spline power box, 74 idler, pitman, and center link.

The very same tie rod ends were never changed.

Some more great info here

http://www.bigblockdart.com/techpages/techindex.shtml
 
Not dumb but a little confusing. If you are doing a disc brake swap and all you are installing are the '73 upper control arms, upper ball joints, spindles, brakes, and lower ball joints, the '70 lower control arms and outer tie rod ends will bolt right up. Did this swap on a '66 Valiant and that's all I changed. If for some reason you are wanting to also swap in the '73 steering components you can do that too as long as all the steering parts are '73. That includes the idler arm, Pitman arm, center link, and steering box. You can still use the '70 inner and outer tie rod ends. Again, if all you are doing is a disc swap there is no need to change out the steering components already on the car, however, you will need a front end alignment when you are done. Hope this helps...
 
Ok so what I'm understanding is that if I stick with the '70 idler arm I won't have to change the center link and pitman arm to a '73+.correct?
 
Is there any advantages to using the '73+ steering components over the '70?
 
The root of the confusion is the steering gear box. What/which steering gear box is used will determine the box coupling, pitman arm, idler arm, and center link required.
 
RedFish said:
The root of the confusion is the steering gear box. What/which steering gear box is used will determine the box coupling, pitman arm, idler arm, and center link required.
Click to expand...

Yep, like he said. If you have a 72 and earlier steering bow it should have the smaller diameter sector shaft, and must use the corresponding pitman arm and therefore center link and idler arm. If you have a 73 and up (or earlier manual box out of a b c or e body) it should have a large sector shaft and will need the required 73 and up pieces. Also, as was said before, inner tie rod ends are the same, but will need to be rotated 180 degrees if you change the center link style.
 
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