The Synergy drag link I ordered just arrived, two days early! I ordered this to replace the old, damaged Teraflex. Teraflex has a good name, but I’ve been disappointed with this drag link.
As described in an earlier post, the nut on the steering knuckle end of the drag link came loose and ultimate fell off while I was driving. This caused me to lose ALL steering at 70mph on the highway. I’m not sure why the nut came loose. That may be more about the shop that last worked on the Jeep than Teraflex. However, the ball joint stud just uses a flanged, serrated nut, NOT a castle nut with a cotter pin.
The nut ended up being a little difficult to find. It’s an M14x1.5 flanged, serrated lock nut. That particular spec is not common. When I called Teraflex to see about getting a replacement I was told that nut is not sold separately but any appropriate size locking nut should be fine. The rep on the phone had never heard of there being any problems with the nut coming off the drag link. But I asked him to pass my story along to engineering anyway.
Given the mission critical nature of the drag link, I think it was a poor choice to NOT use a castle nut with cotter pin design. It’s really a safety issue. For a steering component like that it needs to be idiot proof. It needs to stay on regardless of whether or not someone torques it correctly!
My choice of the Synergy replacement is simple. Synergy is a good, heavy duty product. I already have their tie rod and have had NO issues with it. Their drag link uses the castle nut with cotter pin design so even if it loosens it will not be falling off. And the last advantage is that the tie rod and drag link all use the same ends so that means I can carry one end and have a spare that fits four different connections!
I’m looking forward to installing this piece as soon as possible!