I am assembling a
’71 Charger that I bought from
a guy who ran out of money
(I guess). It is an original 383
4-speed car. My question
concerns the steering: The
main drag link looks bent, but
the guy I bought the car from
swears the car was never in an
accident and drove perfectly
fine. I compared the link with
one my friend loaned me, and it
sure is bent!
What to do?
From the pix you sent of the
center links (Mopars of the era
did not have drag links), I’d say
that the former owner was telling
the truth.
In your pix, the upper link is
a stock 1962-’70 B-body part,
the number 1851015 should be
forged in. The lower link, your
’71, should be 2835877. Yeah,
I know everybody says that all
B-body, and E-body steering
parts are the same, but it isn’t
true. Here’s the rundown:
When the E-body was introduced
in 1970, the steering
column and wheel were lower,
to give the car that arms-out
“sports car” feel. This required
major changes, although most
of them were subtle: The steering
gear mount on the K-member
changed, as did the idler,
pitman, and center
link. When the ’71
B-body came along,
it used these same
components.
Mixing and matching
these parts results
in increased bumpsteer.