American Standard Pivot Rod Spring Clip - AMS-72531

It is the small retaining clip that holds the pivot rod into the pop-up drain body on an American Standard faucet pop-up assembly. The clip slips over the pivot rod behind the drain tailpiece and keeps the ball-and-pivot joint seated so the rod can lift and drop the stopper. When it fails or goes missing, the pivot rod backs out, the stopper stops responding to the lift rod, and the joint usually starts weeping. It is a repair part, not a complete drain assembly.

Check the clip first. If the pivot rod has slipped out of the drain body or wobbles loose at the ball joint, the retaining spring clip is the failure, and the American Standard 072531-0070A replaces just that piece. If the stopper itself is broken, the flange is leaking at the sink deck, or the drain body threads are damaged, the clip won't fix it and you need the full pop-up assembly. Property managers keeping a few of these on the cart handle most stuck-stopper calls without pulling a drain.

It is an American Standard repair part, ordered as manufacturer number 072531-0070A, and it is meant for American Standard faucet pop-up assemblies. Pivot rod diameters and drain body geometry vary between manufacturers, so treat it as a like-for-like replacement on American Standard trim rather than a universal clip.

Usually nothing beyond hands and a pair of pliers. You back off the pivot nut on the drain body, pull the pivot rod, slide the new clip onto the rod in place of the old one, and reseat the rod in the ball joint. The clip is supplied on its own, so if the pivot rod itself is bent or the ball washer is worn, order those separately. At roughly 0.015 lb it is small enough to lose in a cabinet, which is worth remembering before the drain is open.

No finish option applies. The clip ships unfinished because it sits inside the cabinet on the back of the drain body, out of sight once the pivot rod and nut are reassembled. Nothing about it is visible from the sink deck, so there is no chrome, brushed nickel, or bronze version to match.

American Standard lists it under repair parts without splitting it into residential or commercial trim lines, so it serves whichever American Standard pop-up assembly it was made for, in a home vanity or a facility restroom. Because it is a cheap consumable that fails at the ball joint, MRO buyers with a lot of American Standard lavatories usually stock it in quantity rather than ordering one at a time.