heim joints in steering linkage, reliable?

kawi600

kawi600

got Coal for Christmas
Anyone try replacing the ball joints at the tie rod and pitman arm with heim joints? Do they last with those sort of abrupt loads placed on them?
Ive had someone I trust warn me against it, but Im looking for some more opinions, since Ive just about had it with the stock setup.
 
I had a set of endlinks with heim joints, snapped three of them and said screw it, went back to regular end links.
 
would be for a street truck. Its all fubar'd under there again and Im sick of these undersized ball joints =(

Looks like there are some high-strength ones from outfits like ballistic fabrication.
 
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Check thurenfabrication.com a couple guys here run that setup, i would but im broke as usual.
 
yeah thuren's is the one Im looking at for my 2nd gen. I found some posts on other forums that seem like its a good setup. I have his trackbar and control arms on my truck and theyre good quality stuff.
 
I put moog components on my 96, a lot beefier than stock.

Drag link: DS1459
Long tie rod (passenger side: DS1456
Left tie rod end (driver side): ES3496 -
Drag link upper end (at pitman arm): ES3497 (ES3527 for '00-'02)
Small adjusting sleeve (drag link): ES2012S - Large adjusting sleeve (long tie rod): ES3498S
 
Thuren's had been on the truck I own for 7 years and has had nothing replaced on it. Still tight with no issues. Thought about replacing them with serviceable joints, but he said that when it came down to the cost to run those it wasn't worth it.
 
I built cross over steering on my OBS using 3/4 heims and haven't had any issues in 2 years. My dad has had heim joints on his 79 F150 for years and never had any issues with them. Just make sure you get quality ends, not like joints for a 3 point hitch.
 
Good advice, called up thuren fab and ordered a set. Never had an issue with any of his stuff.
even if the heims fail theyre a heck of a lot cheaper to replace than the OEM parts.
Ill be running a safety washer, maybe some safety wire also since Im placing the drag link and tie rod ends under the knuckle. the truck has a small lift on it so it needs to go under the knuckle.
 
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