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Superlift TRE's...

Avery4jc

Avery4jc

1 ton status
GMOTM Winner
Joined
Oct 24, 2005
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Location
Fresno, Ca.
I know it's big and gay but for now it's all I've got so I'm runnin' it. I need to replace the TRE's on my Superlift 4" drop drag-link but I heard from a friend they are special.
I've been looking around online and apparently they are because I see all kinds of Superlift specific TRE's.
So who's replaced them and where is the best place to order them?

To the best of my knowledge it's Superlift part # 3040 and I think the replacement ends are #3040-1 but I'm not sure.

What do you guys think? I looked at Summit but all they list is Ford TRE's for Superlift draglinks...

100_6758.jpg


Or is there a better option (that's not X-over) that I could do on a budget? Maybe make my own draglink with some standard 1 ton TRE's so if I ever have a problem I'm not SOL since these have to be special ordered?




.
 
IIRC the draglink ends are just stock pieces with the exception of the bent center piece.
 
Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY JUST THE TRE's SEPARATELY!!!

Superlift wants like over $50 APIECE for these!!!

If you go to the National Tire & Wheel website, you can purchase the WHOLE drag link assembly for like $120. And thats the exact same thing you have in the pic. And same brand, too.
 
Ok, I did some checking real quick, so this will be a little lengthy.

The link is listed on Nationals site for $122.80 and here it is: http://www.ntwonline.com/73-87_GM_4_DROP_ADJ_DRAG_LNK_P13396C324.cfm

I also did some searching for replacement TRE's several years ago at the local Car Quest. I had searched their catalogs to find an end with the same degree taper and part number #RES2234R came up as the closest fitting piece.

But...

The end does not fit or work in any possible way.

The threaded shaft is too long and would need to be cut shorter and the threads fixed. The taper shaft is too long at the threaded end and would need a flat washer to take up the slack between the steering arm/pitman arm and the castle nuts. The taper shaft also does not stick out far enough because once the nuts tighten up, there is only like 1/8" gap between the TRE and the bottom of the steering/pitman arm. Not enough room for "give" when the truck flexes. It would also tear the rubber boot, IMO.

You could take your DL off and remove the TRE and go to your local Pep Girls and ask for the part number I listed above and do a fitment test to fully understand what I'm referring to. These TRE's were cheaper than buying the Superlift ends, at somewhere around $25 apiece. I bought them thinking I could try and make them work but for the $122.80 price from National, it would be much easier with a whole new DL than dealing with a headache.

Here's a pic of my stuff:

superlift.jpg
 
Oh yeah, let me say something again that I've said before:

Superlift drag links are junk!
 
Thanks for all the help Wes... I know it's a junky draglink but it's all I have right now and I don't want to mess with x-over until I get a 60 up front.
Are there other options? Maybe another company that offers a drop draglink that would work with my pitman arm and raised steering arm?
 
Maybe go with a Superlift CA50 dropped pitman arm? Offroaddesign has them for $110 or so ( I ordered one last week). You could then go back to the stock drag-link. You could use that dropped pitman arm with either or 10bolt/Dana44 that you have now, and later use it with the D60 also - until you go crossover. That is what I'm doing until I get crossover.
 
Ned Kelly said:
Maybe go with a Superlift CA50 dropped pitman arm? Offroaddesign has them for $110 or so ( I ordered one last week). You could then go back to the stock drag-link. You could use that dropped pitman arm with either or 10bolt/Dana44 that you have now, and later use it with the D60 also - until you go crossover. That is what I'm doing until I get crossover.
Click to expand...


I would go this route.
 
PM Me and I'll make you a hell-of-a-deal on this...

HPIM1208-1.jpg


HPIM1215.jpg


It's a little dirty but worked fine when I did my crossover steering.
 
Ned Kelly said:
Maybe go with a Superlift CA50 dropped pitman arm? Offroaddesign has them for $110 or so ( I ordered one last week). You could then go back to the stock drag-link. You could use that dropped pitman arm with either or 10bolt/Dana44 that you have now, and later use it with the D60 also - until you go crossover. That is what I'm doing until I get crossover.
Click to expand...
That number CA50 is not a Superlift number. Its Skyjacker and they're the only company who offers a drop pitman arm for our trucks.

Buy steering correction components from National Tire as they have unbeatable prices.

Avery, I have a Skyjacker raised steering arm thats 2" taller than a regular raised steering arm. Skyjacker offers a 4" and 6" raised arm and I have the 6". I will sell it to you and then all you need is the stock type drag link which is 100 times better than any S-shaped DL.
If you use my 6" arm, you can get the CA50 pitman arm and your stock type DL will be damn near parallel which is the ideal operating angle.
 
NV_K5 said:
PM Me and I'll make you a hell-of-a-deal on this...

HPIM1208-1.jpg


HPIM1215.jpg


It's a little dirty but worked fine when I did my crossover steering.
Click to expand...
Avery already has a raised steering arm. Do you have a drop pitman arm in that pic other than the straight DL?
 
Nope I sold it to ? forgot his name in Oregon, sorry no just the arm and the linkage.

bigbadchev84
 
Last edited:
You DO NOT want a TRE in place of a DLE as the DLE has way more movement than a TRE.
 
thatK30guy said:
That number CA50 is not a Superlift number. Its Skyjacker and they're the only company who offers a drop pitman arm for our trucks.
Click to expand...

K30guy,
Thanks for correcting that - not sure why I said Superlift...:doah:
...and thanks for suggesting that CA50 in a previous thread from sometime in the last two weeks when I was asking.;)
 
So I'm thinking the Skyjacker dropped pitman arm with a straight factory draglink and my Superlift raised steering arm might work...
Is the taper/fit on the holes the same between the Skyjacker pitman/stock draglink/Superlift raised steering arm?

NTW has the Skyjacker pitman arm for $85
Then I'm sure I could pick up a factory draglink with some new ends for fairly cheap (at or under $50 maybe)...

Or just get the replacement dropped draglink with new ends and bolt it up.


It looks like it'll be about the same price so what do you guys think?


I'll take some pics of the truck tomorrow as it sits at ride height because with removing some leaves from the front pack it sits a good 1-2" lower than it did before and I'm concerned that I might have too much drop with my current setup so I'm thinking the 2" drop pitman arm with a straight draglink and my 4" raised steering arm might be ideal since I'm closer to a 6" lift right now anyways.

Thoughts on all of that?
 
Eliminate the SL drop DL immediately and go back to the stock straight DL. Not sure what anyone was thinking when they designed the aftermarket DL's but the stock type is the best over all of them.

Yes, get a drop pitman arm and since you already have a raised steering arm, keep it. With the 1.5" drop on the pitman arm and the 4" raised steering arm, you'd be at 5.5" of steering correction. I know your springs are 8" but after you removed the leaves, how much did the truck lower down?
If your truck didn't lower more than 1" or so, I'd look into the 6" steering arm from SJ and still use their pitman arm for a total of 7.5" of correction. This setup puts the DL right damn near perfect operating angle.

PM me if you're interested in my 6" steering arm. I can't put a price here since we're not in the F/S forums.
 
thatK30guy said:
Eliminate the SL drop DL immediately and go back to the stock straight DL. Not sure what anyone was thinking when they designed the aftermarket DL's but the stock type is the best over all of them.

Yes, get a drop pitman arm and since you already have a raised steering arm, keep it. With the 1.5" drop on the pitman arm and the 4" raised steering arm, you'd be at 5.5" of steering correction. I know your springs are 8" but after you removed the leaves, how much did the truck lower down?
If your truck didn't lower more than 1" or so, I'd look into the 6" steering arm from SJ and still use their pitman arm for a total of 7.5" of correction. This setup puts the DL right damn near perfect operating angle.

PM me if you're interested in my 6" steering arm. I can't put a price here since we're not in the F/S forums.
Click to expand...

I'm headed outside right now to work on putting some new shock towers on up front so I'll take some pics with all the weight on the springs and see if we can figure out where I'm at.
It dropped a considerable amount when I removed the leaves, enough that I noticed even standing next to the hood.
 
I think I'll be good to go with the dropped pitman arm and the factory straight DL...

I just took this pic and as you can see the collar on the lower part of the DL is rubbing on the steering arm... plus the DLE's are all out of whack so I think a drop pitman arm and a straight DL will be just about perfect (well as perfect as push/pull steering can be). :)

100_6797.jpg
 
Yep, I agree. Drop pitman arm #CA50 and new DL from your local Pep Girls and you're good to go.
 
thatK30guy said:
Yep, I agree. Drop pitman arm #CA50 and new DL from your local Pep Girls and you're good to go.
Click to expand...

My friend has a factory DL so I'm getting that from him and I'll just put new ends on it.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll post a pic of the finished setup when I get it all put on.
 
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