Heims or 1 ton T.R.E's?

I'm getting ready to redo my steering setup and have run into a little dilemma. First, the detail of my current setup are as follows:

1973 D30 with the 2 hole passenger knuckle
Saginaw conversion with box and pitman arm from late 70's car
Tie rod ends, tie rod, adjusting sleeve, and draglink for a 1973 CJ5

Now my dilemma. The drag link is beyond worn at the pitman arm. The reason is because the tapers do not match. How I didn't notice this when I put in the D30 is anyone call The draglink hole on the pitman arm measures .640 on the big end, .5625 on the small end, and is .6875 thick. This works out to 1.35" / foot of taper, standard GM is 1.5" so I'm a little confused.

To fix all of this, I'm considering using a kit like this
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/34STEER.html

Opinions? This Jeep isn't going to be a daily driver but it will see lots of street time during the summer. I also don't think that I have the clearance to use 1 ton tie rod ends nor does the pitman arm have enough meat on the draglink end to be retapered.

 

IIRC Heim joints are not legal for this use in some states.

Sure the pitman arm is not wallowed out on the small end, from the ill-fitting TRE? Maybe you need more standard pitman arm?

 

I ran heim joints for awhile on my Jeep. I don't recommend them at all. When I redid my steering I went back to GM TRE's. Frankly I'm surprised that anyone even offers a kit with them. Heims are designed to be used in a double shear application, like a yoke, not for a steering setup with a bolt through the heim and then through the steering arm. If you use them you will be replacing them . . . . . . often. I tried several different types of heims and they all got sloppy over time. Check out PartsMike. Call them, they are very helpful and they have some great steering components. They also sell tapered reamers.

http://partsmike.com/

 

You should either build your own tie rod and drag link or get someone like Parts Mike to build it for you.........I use 1.250 OD x .750 ID DOM tubing using the TRE's shown.......on your warn out holes you can bore them out and stick in tapered sleeves to match the taper in the new TRE's ...............I tack weld them in once installed.......they can't go anywhere as they are captured ........fixes your bad holes.................They will fit your Dana 30 two hole passenger side spindle by spreading the pattern slightly when boring them on a Mill................Easy Job. Or if you stay with a stock tie rod TRE's the sleeves will still fix your holes.

 

Yep, heim joints usually have less of a bearing than the needles in the "well engineered" bell cranks we all hate. I would never use those on a street driven machine. IMO, the 1 T TRE's are gross overkill but would certainly do the job. If it was mine: like Tarry said, either re-ream (may work depending on how bad it is wallowed out) or bore and use an insert-back to stock TRE.

 

None of the holes in the steering knuckles or the pitman arm are worn out or out of round. The taper of the pitman arm and the CJ draglink do not match. I can use stock TRE's for the tie rod and the knuckle end of the draglink, but need to come up with a solution at the box end. I'd also like to make things a bit stronger as the tie rod I currently have is bent.

 

I'm using their 1T TRE kit on my JK:
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/TREOFFK.html

Absolutely no complaints; very beefy!

-WRM

 

Well again........you want to change a taper the tapered sleeves will do the job look here: http://www.goferitoffroad.com/products.htm or google them up............there are several 4-wheel maunfacture's that make them in all different tapered sizes..........Pittman arm comes off you bore the hole and press in new sleeve and then tack weld it............Presto new taper.
Or change the Pittman arm to the correct one that matches your TRE's..........call Parts Mike in California has a bunch of that stuff on the shelf.
If your opting for stronger / Larger tie rods again talk to Parts Mike.............or build them as I suggested.

 

You said the pitman arm is from a GM car. That is why the taper does not match your Jeep tie rod end. GM trucks and GM cars are different from each other, and from other vehicles. You have a few options. Get the correct pitman arm, ream or have reamed your existing Pitman arm to match or go oversize to a larger tie rod end and build custom drag link, or use a kit like the Goferit kit to bring the arm where yours should be.


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