Heim Jointed Steering Linkage
This one came about after a lot of bent tie rods. I decided to combine the tie rod on top of the knuckles along with an increase in tie rod and drag link strength. I use 3/4" Grade 5 fasteners and Black Max heim joints from Jeg's. The tie rod is 1 1/4 Schedule 80 pipe and the drag link is 1.375" OD DOM tubing. I bought the threaded rod end adapters from Chassis Engineering and just welded them in place. The setup has not been completely bullet proof though. I did manage to bend the tie rod a bit (probably driving into a rock) and I broke the heim joint at the pitman arm since I was flexing it beyond its allowable angle range. I also bent the drag link up against the frame when I was figuring out my shock bracket mounts. I was lowering the frame onto the bumpstops with no front springs in place to see where I needed to place the shock mount. I ended up resting the frame on the drag link. I am in the process of making a new pitman arm which will be tilted the same amount as the drag link to keep the heim joint at its neutral position and it will also lower the drag link about 1" which will keep it from hitting the frame at extreme compression. If that doesn't work, I'll spring for the high dollar high misalignment heim joints from Performance Unlimited. For right now, I'm carrying a spare.