Bad drag link?

That is no bueno.

Is that nut torqued down on there?

 

That nut is loose. Good chance the upper steering arm is wallowed out and no good now.

 

Twist the draglink as well. It should not be loose like that. Easy fix though. I replaced mine, it was as easy as removing the cotter pins and nuts and putting the new draglink on and tightening the nuts back down and putting in new cotter pins. Ironically the original size nuts that came off were 33mm and the new nuts were 1 5/16ths, so I had to go back to the hardware store and buy a new wrench.

 

Its not a bolt, its a ball stud. The shank is tapered to match the taper in the upper steer arm, which locks it in place.

You might have to get a jack or something and push the drag link back up into the taper to hold it.

That ball stud should have some resistance to turning. It could be worn if it spins with no resistance. With that nut being loose my advice would be to remove it and inspect the taper on the ball stud and the tapered hole in the upper steer arm. If its been pounded out from running loose it may never seat correctly again.

 

See what happens when your bored and hungry...

 

Tighten it as tight as you can get it. Then back it off just enough to line the holes up to replace the cotter pin. If the link or the bar still have any play after it's all tightened back up then replace them both because they could be egged out from the play depending on how long it's been going on. I'd love to know why the cotter pin isn't there.

 

Looks like someone finger tightened the nut and called it good. Definitely not suppose to do that.....