Ok on an 85 you have a steering piece and noone has been able to tell me what it is. so someone on here should be able. It was the link that attached the j-arm and the pitman arm. It has 2 balljoint ends. You have to take out a carter key and unscrew something to take it off. of course this would be on a stock truck

 

It's called a drag-link. Why?

 

But its like a foot long. you sure? could ya give a pic

 

It's definitely called the drag link. You can get one that drops down about 4" for a lift, but I've heard they're a little tricky to set up. If you're doing a 3" lift, as seen in another post of yours, I'd recommend converting to crossover steering, that way you can ditch the weak j-arm and torque rod.

 

because it 'drags' other parts along when it moves.
you may laugh, but it's true.

 

I didn't ask Why because I didn't know that. I asked Why because I wanted to know Why he wanted to know what it's called. Duh!

 

Here's a pic of a pro-comp drop draglink.