Anyone who doubts these joints should thoroughly check out bulletproofsteering.com. They have addressed each of your concerns above. Check out the rod end specs, and the magazine article on the Baja 1000 truck that went 70 miles with a broken shock, with the tie rod being used as the bump stop. Nothing broke.

 

Thanks for the link Tim. Definitley a site to bookmark. There is lots to read up on. I might even give it another shot.

 

Looks good !

 

Tim,
This is where the rod ends come from.

http://www.aurorabearing.com/Files/a...et_Catalog.pdf

Looks like they are using the proper high strength units. The only wear issue will be between the ball and race. As someone else stated if they do not have jam nuts be sure to install them prior to using the tie-rods.

 

Tim you dont need a drill press, a jig can be fabbed up and put on the spindle itself to guide a hand drill, also due to the oodles of articulation in the heim, it can be off a degree or two and not cause any trouble.

 

You talking about BPS ends? If so, which ones? And how did you figure this out?

 

Not my concern. What I am worried about is a hole that's .7500 in the top, .7500 in the middle, and .7500 in the bottom. When either the part or the drill moves, the hole is no longer perfectly round.

I actually have a handheld drill guide at home. If the machine shop balks, I'll think about it some more.

 

Hey Tim
The Moog Upper control arms, with the ball joints
Are they a exact replacements for the Lightning control arms, or are they a replacement for a regular F150 upper control arm??

If I remember the lightning uses a special lower control arm, but I am not sure about the upper??

Also the lower ball joint- can it be pressed out, and be replaced with a Moog ball joint??

Wow I typed Joint a few times, whooooo hoooooo

 

Don, AFAIK, the uppers are the same across all 2WD F150s. The 4WDs are slightly different.

The lower joint can in fact be removed and replaced with a Moog part, which is what I have done. When I'm finished with the front end, the only stock joints left will be the upper steering arms.

The Moog part #s are here.

I'm not one to trash OEM parts just for the hell of it, but IMO the stock non-greaseable joints should be replaced with Moogs. Trying to squirt grease in with a needle is a poor substitute for proper greasing, where the injected grease displaces the old grease in the joint.

 

Thanks Dude
I agree the Stock stuff is OK, but there is room for improvement.


And it about time to replace some of my front end parts.