Aftermarket tie rods/drag link.....?????

[SaddleUp]

I won't argue because it is an opinion and we all have a right to ours however, most off road racers like the Baja use heims in their steering. Dirt track, NASCAR, NHRA and even many ATV's have gone to heims. The new Polaris has replaced the tie rods with heims. Just something to think about.

This is a poor comparison. These vehicles all get constant inspection prior to and during racing or are not used on the street.

 

[SaddleUp]

Ever fly on a commercial airliner? Look under the flaps and see what they use...rod ends all over the place I think rod ends get a bad rap because people apply them incorrectly, don't understand single versus double shear, and don't understand the difference between and economy industril rod end and a quality aircraft/automotive grade rod end.

90% of the rod end failures I've seen were caused by poor design and/or fastener failures. The other 10% I think would have failed regardless, TRE, rod end, or otherwise.

TRE's are a solid solution and I'm all for them. I think it's tough to beat the price of a 1-ton Chevy TRE and I would use them without a second thought. I also would use a quality chromoly rod end as well. To each his own. I believe that everyone should make their decisions based on their preferences so long as the end result is a safe steering system...because that's the ultimate goal.

You are correct in that they are used heavily in the airline industry. Having been an aircraft mechanic in a prior life I've had opportunity to both inspect many of them and replace them when necessary. That still doesn't change my opinion that they are not designed for use in automotive steering. It would be possible to do so but it would require a complete redesign of the steering so the rod ends were working as designed. They also would still require more maintenance and inspection that is already routine on aircraft.

BTW, I have a hard time believing all of the race car builders do not know that there are differences in quality between them. I spent the better part of a day calling around to different places and they all asked me one question. I.E. What was I going to use it for? Then when I told them they all said they would not sell them to me for that. That sent a pretty clear message to me regarding how safe they are for this purpose.

 

[broncnaz]

I think BMC69 hit it on the head most people install rod ends in there driveway with less than precsion tools thats where most of the problem lies. I wont debate the strenght issue but I believe that most of the hiem setups are overbuilt which is fine for a trail only rig but I tend to think that I would rather bend a stock type tie rod than wack a 2in DOM tubing rod on something and end up breaking a knuckle. yes I know plenty of knuckle get broken with stock tierod setups but I think its much more likely to break something with the big fat DOM setups. Also most applications using hiems are for a basic movement in one direction like a carb linkage or clutch linkage. Time will tell on the hiem setups as I dont think they've had enough time on our bronco's yet to really say how they will holdup for long term anyways.
Oh yeah for you Hiem guys I just saw that summit racing now has seals for rod ends. Might help keep them alive a little longer.

 

[JCoggin]

Thanks to all for the input...I have decided to go with tie rod ends since I do use my EB on the street as well as offroad.

Thanks again,

James