guys i am trying to get superdiesel's centerlink to me but i dont think it will make it here in time for me to install it for sat night . i hear of some of you strapping the centerlink . ? could someone explain on how this is done ? will this help me for the time being ? thanks alot

Shoot a pm to mtomac. He used to strap his before he got his centerlink.

take a 1inch ratchet strap go around centerlink right between idler and pitman arm, remove skid plate and hook strap there, you are trying to prevent rolling of the centerlink.others do theres around offsets by the zerts using two straps, but turning radius is reduced, of course your getting the SDcenterlink so get used to it(have fun parking and backing trailers, it takes patience), Tomac runs his own setup not SDs.I do have the SDcenterlink and it works awesome for racing and pulling but lacks for daily driving.

take a 1inch ratchet strap go around centerlink right between idler and pitman arm, remove skid plate and hook strap there, you are trying to prevent rolling of the centerlink.others do theres around offsets by the zerts using two straps, but turning radius is reduced, of course your getting the SDcenterlink so get used to it(have fun parking and backing trailers, it takes patience), Tomac runs his own setup not SDs.I do have the SDcenterlink and it works awesome for racing and pulling but lacks for daily driving.

What happens when the centerlink "rolls"?

Your truck "toes-in" severely which slows it down.

Your truck "toes-in" severely which slows it down.

What exactly is happening? How does the centerlink rolling, make the tires toe in? I don't want to fix the problem before I fully understand it.

The stock centerlink has two "ears" on it. The force of the front tires pushing against the tierods rotates it and makes the center effectively shorter.

any one have any pictures of how to do the tow strap idea, not to sure what and where to do this, thanks

The stock centerlink has two "ears" on it. The force of the front tires pushing against the tierods rotates it and makes the center effectively shorter.

By ears, do you mean the S shaped bend at the ends of the centerlink? The ball joints on the pitman and idler arm don't seem like they have alot of movement. So basically your telling me that with little bit of rotation, and because of the bend in the centerlink, the inner side of the tie rods will move up or down, and this is what is ultimitely causing the tierods to "shorten" and causing the tires to toe in. This distance can't be more than a tiny bit compared to lifting or lower your torsion bars.

any one have any pictures of how to do the tow strap idea, not to sure what and where to do this, thanks

Yes, I agree. Maybe some pics will help.I still don't see how taking a ratchet strap, with round hooks around a round bar, will help stop anything from rotating. HELP us understand:confused:

take a 1inch ratchet strap go around centerlink right between idler and pitman arm, remove skid plate and hook strap there, you are trying to prevent rolling of the centerlink.others do theres around offsets by the zerts using two straps, but turning radius is reduced, of course your getting the SDcenterlink so get used to it(have fun parking and backing trailers, it takes patience), Tomac runs his own setup not SDs.I do have the SDcenterlink and it works awesome for racing and pulling but lacks for daily driving.

i dont even notice i have SD's centerlink in

Yeah, the SD centerlink is an option for the short wheelbase trucks, but on the CC/LB's it's only an option if you want to do 15-pt turns every time you park.

What makes it good, is also what makes it bad. Being straight makes it strong and stops the rotation, but because it's straight it removes the "Ackerman?" out of the front steering. This is the geometry that makes the inside wheel turn sharper than the outside wheel when cornering. WIthout it, you have a lessor turning radius and you drag a tire sideways when turning sharp.

ryan i was in a parking garage with people behind me and could not make the turns and had to back up at every u, that really sucked plus backing short trailers is flat a pain in the rear.

the other thing that happens other then the rolling of the centerlink is when the front end lifts the a-arms drop and again shorten the tierods when you add these up you get lots of toe, i think you can stop it toeing if your bars are down all the way and you can limit suspension travel or t- bars down and stop the roll, i used chains last season from the upper shock mount to the lower a-arm and that worked too, farmboystoy did it also as does rick smith from daves diesel, so there are other choices, the reason i tried chains was i to could not figure out the centerlink thing with straps, when i did i tried it a couple times and it seemed to work good too but i did break a strap (i also stretched chains cause i used too small of ones) this is why i chose the SDcenterlink cause i got sick of screwing around, and you can not stop at a light to strap down your front end if you want to play on the street, but the SDlink has drawbacks as well.

take a 1inch ratchet strap go around centerlink right between idler and pitman arm, remove skid plate and hook strap there, you are trying to prevent rolling of the centerlink.others do theres around offsets by the zerts using two straps, but turning radius is reduced, of course your getting the SDcenterlink so get used to it(have fun parking and backing trailers, it takes patience), Tomac runs his own setup not SDs.I do have the SDcenterlink and it works awesome for racing and pulling but lacks for daily driving.

Does anyone know what Tomac uses and if it is any better for street driving than SD's?

man , the longer this goes on looks like i wont have anything for this weekend . i hope if i just lower the t-bars it will work out for me . those pics sure would be nice !!!!!!!!

lower the bars and try and strap it , just remember your trying to keep the centerlink from rolling, you will figure it out when your doing it, if you can not strap it just go with bars lowered.

tomacs setup is even harder to explain.

As the tires are biting for traction they are trying to pull themselves forward. This movement is pushing the tierods inward which is pushing the center link upward because the pitman an idler arms can move up and down as well as side to side. The up and down movement is what we are trying to limit because it causes the wheels to toe in. Worst case senerio is when the center link reaches its max upward movement and it can't move anymore it bends the tierods since they are the weakest link. The straps keep the centerlink preloaded and pulled down and helps eliminate the movement and the toe in.

The best way to see this is jack up the front end so the wheels are just off the ground. Install jack stands (just in case) then roll under the truck, head first on a creeper and with both hands move the center link up/down. You will see the tires toeing in and out as you move the centerlink up and down.

Also, without doing an alignment, lowering the torsen bars toes out the wheels while raising the torsen bars toes in the wheels. That's why it's a good idea to lower the torsen bars when pulling if your not hanging weight. If you're hanging enough weight off the front it will lower the front end (and toe out the front wheels) just like lowering the torsen bars.

You're trying to pull down on the centerlink with the 1" ratchet strap to keep if from rotating/moving. To do this, first take off the plastic skidplate and aluminum front differential skidplate. Then hook one end of the strap (J-hook or S-hook) to the backside of the crossmember (the one that the lower a-arms hook to) and run the strap on the underside of the crossmember then up and around the centerlink and back down and back under the crossmember then hook the other end of the ratchet strap to the backside of the crossmember. Then ratchet until it's as tight as you can get it. You should see the centerlink move down (toward the ground) as you're tightening the ratchet strap.

thanks mike, that is making more sense, so in fact we are straping the centerlink and prevent it from moving up, thus preventing movement and excessive toe in, will try soon, thanks

mike . i made a weight bracket last night and hung 850 lbs or so on it . it lowered the front but not as much as lowering the bars . what should i do ? my truck is around 7400 lbs , should i hang enough weight to bring it to 8000lbs and then lower the bars some more ? or just hang the weight , strap it .

i also have my stock wheels with BFG's on them 285's , should i try them ? my 315/70/17 are pretty big for dropping the bars , very short turns if you know what i mean ?

one other thing , can i leave the strap on for street driving or remove it ?

Assuming you've cranked the bars up a couple inches to clear the 315's you might want to drop the t-bars a bit and strap the centerlink when hanging the weight but then again you might not have to lower the t-bars at all. A little toe in is good because the front tires will throw the dirt away from the rear tires but too much toe in you will fight the steering wheel going down the track. It's kind of a trial and error to get it just right.

You can leave the strap on for street driving but when you turn the strap slides on the centerlink and it will rub thru, break and fall off quicker than if you just used it when pulling. If you're going to run it on the street zip tie the handle of the ratchet strap to something so it doesn't fall off when the strap breaks.

If the track is tight you're 285's will give you plenty of traction in 3rd gear low range.

mike , how about a pic of it with weight . maybe you can see if you think it dropped enough ?

tried to post a pic and i am having trouble