willysmjeeps.com

We recently rebuilt a 1955 M38A1. Were just at the point of wiring up the electrical systems and managed to take it out for it's first drive since the rebuild. Overall drove and ran very well.

One area I want to revisit is the drag link. Steering was OK but still seemed to wander a bit. WE have all new parts and even rebuilt the steering box with all new parts as well. The one area I am concerned with is the drag link.

The new repair kit for the drag link seemed to be more CJ like and looked nothing like the earlier OEM part. In particular are the end caps that thread into the bar. The old ones had very deep grooves for the cotter pins. The new kits are shallow and this is where I am very concerned.

We put the thing together but decided to revisit it later. Once assembled the end caps are not compressing enough that we can install cotter pins. The steering feels reasonable tight but after that test drive I'm not convinced this is right at all. The only reason I didn't use the old end caps is the forward one has the ball socket built into it's surface. The original one was scuffed and worn. Opted to put in fresh parts at the time.

Does anyone sell the NOS end caps? I've searched through the forums and see lots of info on assembly and correct orientation - just not much on the depth of the end caps and generally available replacement parts.

The most important thing about the drag kink besides having the correct end forward is the assembly. The two ends do not go together the same way.

I also had problems with the replacement caps and went back with my originals. I did have to clean then up.

You can see that items B, F, & H differ between the CJ parts and the M38A1 parts. If your new parts came with part numbers shown tell us what the numbers on the new parts were.

In the mean time you'll have to search the net for:

B - plug, large ORD# 8677061, WO# 801565, CA# 5-11378,
F - plug, small ORD# 8676987, WO# 801265, CA# 11372

Willys Jeep Parts offers the wrong & the correct ones: https://www.willysjeepparts.com/Connecting_Rods.htm
If you buy the civvy repair kit you'll get the wrong ones. You must move down the page to the two correct part number plugs and order them individually.


Correct large 801565


Correct small 801265


Incorrect Large one 630756


Incorrect small one 630757

Yep we got the civy kit that included the shallow adjusting caps. I should have stopped when we ran into that knowing it was wrong. Oh well glad to see the deep slotted version is still available. I only need a new axle side cap as the other end has new wear surfaces the spring and then the cap. I can reuse my old OEM cap on the pitman arm end.

I want to address this correctly since neither end has a cotter pin at the moment! Not a safe way to operate. Thanks all.