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TRE's VS Heims for a DD

TRE's or Heims for DD

  • Heims 7/8 (ballistic fab)

    Votes: 23 43.4%
  • TRE's (one ton chevy)

    Votes: 30 56.6%

  • Total voters
    53

jdxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Colorado Springs
I'm getting ready to build my steering and heard that some people don't like Heims for a DD.
What do you all think
TIA
 
I dont like heims for anything. They wear out too fast, especially on a DD. Not to mention you can get TRE's from any parts store anywhere! Not so with Heims.
 
I have heims. I used to DD my junk.

Not worth having to replace them 3x as much as TRE for daily use.

Yes, they are stronger than TRE's.

But, if you dont have spare rod ends, you'll be stuck on the trail.

A local autoparts house will have the TRE to get you back home.

They wont have a specialty part like a rod end.
 
Its a friday night. You will find that people on here are less active on the weekends.
 
I have ran SS heims on my steering for a little over two years as a DD. Not one problem. It is now a trail rig and I still pound on them. Keep them sprayed down with silicon. Couldn't tell you if they are better/worst then TRE. I didn't have TRE when I did my high steer, I went right to heims. I would make the assumtion that most people wouldn't run heims on the street. For what reasons I do not know. But with all the other modifications done to my Jeep, it's def. not a street vehicle anymore. My suggestion would be to go with whatever you like. I would trust heims on the street and def. trust them offroad. Plus they look better! haha
 
there is a company that make greaseable heim joints? I have worked on many KW trucks that had 3/8ths greaseable heim joints for their clutch linkage.
 
I have no personal experience with the HEIM joints. I would personally go with TRE just for the ease of availability and the fact of life of the part as a DD.
 
NO ONE ELSE?

Heims are good for steering in my opinion, but be advised, in NC (and definitely many other states) they are ILLEGAL to have on steering. Since it is a daily driver and you plan to get it inspected, just keep in mind your steering isn't legal. Will they check? That's another story, but just FYI :)

So nobody carries spares tires? Spare parts? A heim is the size of the palm of my hand. That's not a con, that's called be lazy.


If you do run heims, it would be a good idea to bring spares wherever you go.
 
If you do run heims, it would be a good idea to bring spares wherever you go.

Same could be said for TRE's so its kind of a moot point. I mean yeah, if you break a tre on a trail, you could have somebody carry you in to town to get a new tre, but why not just carry a couple spares.

If you set up a suspension/steering setup with identical heims, you could (in theory) just carry 2 left thread and 2 right thread heims for everything.
 
Couple of things...

I love Heims, and have NEVER had a problem even on my DD which has more than 50,000 miles on them (non-Jeep). I have heims on my track bar, steering, and long arms.

What I reccomend for those looking to run a Heim is:

- use a seals it rubber seal. They're inexpensive and will keep contaminants out.
sit-ws6250_grp.jpg

- every oil change, spray them down with a wax based silicon lube. (I use the royal purple chain lube)

Why do I love heims?

- Quality heims use a mixture of kevlar and teflon as a dry lube. For those that know about Kevlar is that it is EXTREEMLY durable between two peices of metal. A lot of clutch manufactures use it because it will literally last 500,000+ miles with very little degradation. As long as the heim keeps the liner intact, the heim will last forever.
- The clearances between the race and the ball is very tight. So tight infact that water should never be able to get between them. Compare that with a typical ball joint that requires a physical gap for grease to take up the slack.

For those of you who have had bad experiences with heims, you have more than likely used a cheaper non kevlar lined joint. I would never use anything but a brand named kevlar lined heim.
 
Heims are good for steering in my opinion, but be advised, in NC (and definitely many other states) they are ILLEGAL to have on steering. Since it is a daily driver and you plan to get it inspected, just keep in mind your steering isn't legal. Will they check? That's another story, but just FYI :)


Huh, this is news to me. Any links to the portion of the general statute that outlaws them or?


I'd think that manufacturers and retailers would be more required to let you know that, Rubicons most basic adjustable track bar comes with a heim...

That same track bar has passed inspection more than once under my rig but I can't promise they checked.
 
I am looking at doing the same thing right now. But just at the Pitman end of my draglink. I am running the Rugged ridge steering for a little over 2 weeks now. I would love to be able to run a heim on all 4 ends but won't be able to because of the bend in the passenger TRE and I am unsure if anyone makes a heim with a spot for the Drag link. Anyways I was wondering what kind of heim to run. I want a greasable one and I need 7/8 RH thread.
 
I use 3/4 heims on my steering and track bar. I got 20k out of my last set before they got a "little" loose. 7/8 is a little big IMO. I have always ran big metal washes on both sides of my heims just incase one did break.
 
Bryson, what brand heims are you using?

QA1s XM series (what Ballistic carries). The midwest control joints seem like they'd work fine, but I've never personally ran them. QA1 is really the #1 manufacture of auto grade rod ends.

And those worried about the heim breaking... I'd be much more worried about a TRE breaking. Heims have the same standards as grade 8 fasteners. Can't really say the same about TREs.
 
Huh, this is news to me. Any links to the portion of the general statute that outlaws them or?


I'd think that manufacturers and retailers would be more required to let you know that, Rubicons most basic adjustable track bar comes with a heim...

That same track bar has passed inspection more than once under my rig but I can't promise they checked.

Wolfpackjeeper may know, he is from NCSU and im at ECU, i havent gotten mine inspected here, but it did pass in raleigh. granted it had no heims on the steering. I dont know if the track bar is included in the steering, i think it may just be tie rod and drag link. Honeslty, i dont think any one would notice, and i cannot remember but someone on here posted it. He sounded pretty serious about it. He said that it was a no-no in NC and that was why he wasnt going with bullet proof or rock krawler steering.
 
I am not sure, and I can't say that my vehicle was actually looked at the last time it was inspected. However, this does remind me that I need to send my buddy an email to remind him to get it inspected for me. I have not had the chance to move it to Florida yet.
 
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