I tried the search withoout much luck. What are my options on some stronger than OEM tie rod ends.

 

I replaced the factory tie rod ends around 35K. If I recall correctly the factory were non greaseable. I've had MOOG on since then and now have 166K.

 

Why stronger? Mine lasted 322k. I just bought one from NAPA, 50 bucks.

 

Just replaced all my steering parts last weekend with Moog parts, outer joints were wiped, the other two I replaced just for the hell of it ,$300 bucks and a lifetime warranty on parts. I figured it was cheaper than aftermarket parts and if or should I say when they wear out, I'll just go on down to the parts store with the worn parts and the reciept and claim new ones. All joints now have grease fittings , track bar this weekend. 85k on truck (track bar #3)

 

I have already replaced the Trac Bar to the D T Pro Fab, and now would just like to finish off the front end with as strong as possible. Just finished install on new bearing, Ball Joints, hubs and rotors, and figured before I take it in and get it aligned I would just finish off the front end. I hate down time, I'm makin a feeble attempt at getting ahead of breakdown's.

 

A good thread to put this, been meaning to add it for a while. Alignment on these trucks if stock is a joke that just rips off owners. An alignment sets the caster, the camber and the toe. On our trucks the ball joints do not adjust so the camber is not adjustable. The Castor is something that does not move and is not too critical. Being the tilt of the axle towards the rear, if the wheel centers it is good. All that is set on an alignment is toe which is 0 degrees so what do you pay the big money for? You have a handling problem, take it in to the dealer for an alignment, they check the toe, charge you a big fee, send you home, same problem. Yea they jack it up and check the ball joints but that is about it.

 

Apparently you've never had the death wobble.....too little caster is one of the causes.
Camber is adjustable too, there are alignment cams avaliable for the upper ball joint. The preferable method is to use the alignment cams in the upper ball joint to set camber and cross caster, then use the factory cam bolts to set final caster.

 

Granted but my post was not about what was possible with mods, it was about the stock truck where the owner takes it in and has and "alignment" which only consists of toe in set. It would take some real warn parts to alter the caster once set. Especially since the front is not independant and one side would hold it in place. I have heard on this board of so many that have had the front re-aligned several times to cure pull or tire wear. Caster on a solid axle is not something that changes without serious wear. On the highway, on our 4wd trucks, more degrees caster is a good thing, keeps things straight.

To have a bad caster it would take both ball joints warn badly, or both bushings warn bad, in other words, both sides would have to have serious play. At that point you have other issues of repair than just an alignment.

And no I do not have the death wobble and have not probably because the heavier I am the more caster is dialed in. A good way to get it is to jack the rear up with air bags and remove the caster. On a stock truck, camber is not adjustable without mods.

 

Guess I'm kinda curious why my caster was always off when I went for an alignment. Control arms didn't change and the ball joints weren't that far gone. Ride height didn't change, so I guess it must've been wear in the control arm bushings or ??? Stood right there and watched the numbers on the laser alignment rack. I always have it set to the same specs, so something is changing.

As far as camber, I had 0.0 left, .1 right before I changed the ball joints. Now I'm at .1 left, .2 right with new ball joints. New STOCK ball joints. The alignment cam replaces the stock wedge cam in the upper ball joint. The stock wedge cam cannot be rotated to obtain proper alignment. It doesn't require any "modifications" to work, it simply drops in place of the stock wedge cam.

The factory specs for alignment are pretty broad, the first time I got the death wobble, my alignment was well within factory specs.

 

So where can I find the High Performance version of these parts.

 

NAPA or rockauto.com. I got the Moog ball joints with grease fittings. Not sure how much stronger than stock, but they do last a little longer.

Another option is to change the whole set up over to the 1 ton style, do a search on pavementsucks.com for 1 ton steering. Or you could do what I did....

http://thurenfabrication.com/crossover.html