Centerlink

[neversatisfied]

Has anyone reinforced their center link like so?
3

What are your thoughts?

[hdd-max]

Probably should or should have. I think I may have bent the one on my 07.

[Josh2002cc]

May I ask what it is you did? What material did you use?

[neversatisfied]

That is not an exact picture of mine but...
.250 material
I took the plasma, followed the line of the centerlink, and then welded it on.

[swatkins]

I am curious,,, what gave you the idea to mod it in that way? Was the link hardened and do you think the welding would have weakened it?

Nice job on the welding :thumb:

[neversatisfied]

I saw that picture so I did the same to mine.
It may be possible that it weakened, how much? dont know.
If it does screw up, I will put a straight one in it but I had to try this first.

[James Hess]

ok new to diesels. what does this do? and where is it? im still a little green behind the ears

[Fingers]

One of the locals did his that way or at least similar and ran it for almost a year. Finally dedicated his truck to racing and got the straight center link. The problem is there is still a large twisting moment on the pitman and idler arm ends.

[James Hess]

ok this is for the steering then. what actually does it do?

[neversatisfied]

Yep, it is for the the steering. The tierods connect to the outsides.

[neversatisfied]

ok new to diesels. what does this do? and where is it? im still a little green behind the ears

When the truck is in 4x4 and under a hard load like drag racing or sled pulling, the centerlink will flex and it can rotate slightly casuing the tires to toe in.
One way to fix it is with a straight centerlink but most people claim to lose some turning radius.

[James Hess]

ok gotcha thanks

[racinmike77]

When the truck is in 4x4 and under a hard load like drag racing or sled pulling, the centerlink will flex and it can rotate slightly casuing the tires to toe in.
One way to fix it is with a straight centerlink but most people claim to lose some turning radius.

how much turning loss are we talking about??

[neversatisfied]

how much turning loss are we talking about??

I have not ran one yet so I can not say but since our trucks dont turn very sharp to begin with a little bit will make a difference.

[James Hess]

not to try and screw things up but wouldnt spacers on the front help with that to restore or improve the radius. im not sure if i am right but seeing as how the front tires would be spaced farther out with a wider stance the tighter it would turn. but i could be out of the park on this one.

[neversatisfied]

I think the problem is one tire ends up turning sharper than the other. The straight centerlink messes with the geometry.

[James Hess]

so you dont lose radius but one tire turns more then the other?

[neversatisfied]

I think you end up with both but I'm not 100% sure

[James Hess]

hhmmm sacrafices:lol:

[racinmike77]

why not just cut a piece of tubing and weld it between the two ends of the centerlink?? Do you guys think that would work?

[James Hess]

Has anyone reinforced their center link like so?
3

What are your thoughts?

that is kinda what satisfied was showing i think, but instead of a tube it looks like a straight piece welded the full length with the same contour.

[racinmike77]

so when does this go on sale?

[James Hess]

so when does this go on sale?

:lol2: thats pretty funny, good investment im sure but i think fingers said there would be a large twisting moment of the pitman and idler arm ends, and then there was the thought of it being weakend by the welding.

[neversatisfied]

If their is twisting, I think some cognito braces would help with that. As for it getting weakened, it hasn't been a problem yet but time will tell.

[James Hess]

i think i seen those braces on their site, and even if the welding did weaken the original piece the end result with the extra metal would be stronger than the original to begin with keeping in mind that there is extra metal to bear(not sure if thats spelled right for the usage:lol:) the load. so it could have happened but i dont think it would turn out to be a problem for failure.

[Schwinn68]

If their is twisting, I think some cognito braces would help with that. As for it getting weakened, it hasn't been a problem yet but time will tell.
I'm with you. From the guys I've talk to and what I'm going to run on my truck, the cognito braces will stop the centerlink from rolling. I'm also installing tie rod sleeves. I agree with the other poster who said one tire turns more than the other so you'll always be burning up one tire when you turn.