68 Z28 centre Drag Link

[fireZ]

My 68 Z has a 1.125 inch centre link and I am looking at another 68 Z with the smaller drag link. My question is did all 68 Zs not have the larger drag link or was it an option?

[Jon Mello]

The larger drag link did not become available until '69. Your car would have had the smaller diameter one when new. There was a HD service part available in '68 for the road racers but it is a super rare find. It has a large ridge around the area where the inner tie rod connects to the drag link.

-Jon

[fireZ]

Thanks Jon my 68 z is from California and it does have the 1.125 dia. link . It has that large ridge were the inner tie rod attachs.

[Jon Mello]

If you get a chance, post a picture of that area of the drag link. That is a very hard to find part.

-Jon

[fireZ]

I will but the car is in storage for the winter we get up here in Canada. I do not know if I can get in the barn at the fellows place I store it in.I will take a drive Sunday and see if I can get a pic. Thanks again

[Jon Mello]

My mistake --- I said it has a ridge where the inner tie rod attaches but what I meant is it has a ridge where the pitman arm and idler arm attaches. A view of the pitman arm side is shown below, as installed on a Trans-Am racer.

-Jon

[fireZ]

I will try and get some good shots when I can get into storage.

[KurtS]

I'm pretty sure that the large drag link came out in 68. I thought Troy's car had it.

In 69, all cars with power steering had the large drag link.

[Jon Mello]

The large drag link which came out on the '69s was part number 3953221, totally a '69 era part number, close in number to the 3953227 pitman arm which was also a '69 part. There would have been no need for GM to produce the large drag link I posted a picture of above for the Trans-Am guys in '68 if they had an off-the-shelf part ready to go that year. While some '68s may have the "221" drag link, I think they were probably retrofitted later in the car's life.

-Jon

[fireZ]

  took a drive out by the farm were my car is stored,and there was no way of getting inside without shovelling snow for a hour at the least. Its pilled 3 feet against the door . I will get a shot of it in the spring,I imagine it was retrofitted later in its life as the car was in a front end accident early in its life . The family I bought the car from were the original owners and supplied pics of the damage the car took back in 1970. I know the damage was on the front left striaght on the wheel. The left DF rallyis a later dated wheel than the other 3 so it was a helluva hit. I put the car on a frame rack when I bought it and everything was square. I can spot some frame work that had been done years earlier.

[Marty]

My 68 has the larger drag link. I can measure it again but I know it's the larger one.

Martin

[Jon Mello]

The attached page from the 12-68 parts book (Thanks, Ed Bertrand) shows the 3 different drag links or "relay rods" as GM liked to call them. Note that the 3953221 is listed for '69 Camaros with special steering. The 3923589 is the other large bar with special surface treatment meant for the 1968 Trans-Am racers and not used in assembly line production. It is the one in the picture I posted above. 3923587 is the part number which superceded the original 3888637 number of the original small diameter drag link. By the '72 parts book, the only drag link listed was 3953221 and the notes said it superceded the 3888637 and 3923589 numbers. The small drag link was no longer available by 1972 and so anybody needing to replace that item for any reason would be doing so with the 3953221 piece. Martin, the majority of your car's history is unknown and it had been modified before you bought it.

[68Zproject]

Do these relay rods have casting or part #'s on them?

[Marty]

Jon, you're right. My car is an unknown. The lower right A-arm was replaced, the manual steering replaced by power and the idler arm was a replacement along with the pitman arm. The center drag link could also have been changed. Luckily I have a smaller diameter around in case I want to change it.

Martin

[1968RSZ28]

Here's one that sold on Ebay today for $68.00...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1967-1969-Camaro-HD-Suspension-F-41-Drag-Link-Original_W0QQitemZ320197499143QQihZ011QQcategoryZ34200QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Paul