I'm not a purist in the real sense of the word. I am a purist in that I believe that the factory knew exactly what they were doing when they designed our cars, and knows exactly how to make them work their best for the use they were intended. They were never intended to ge "G" machines or road racers. They were designed to be safe street cars, and do that well. They have a solid, if imperfect suspension design that has been beaten on by countless numbers of police cars and taxis over many, many years. The amount of abuse these cars have had in those situations, and by the public at large, leads to the conclusion that this is a very safe and reliable front end. In an attempt to "cure" some perception of a less than "optimal" front geometry, new front ends have been designed. They have however, brought with them issues with regards to reliability and rigidity that should not have been there if the people designing the front ends truly understood the structure of the unibody cars. I have no issue with suspension upgrades of any sort. I have a real issue when it comprimises the structural design of the car; not just our cars here, any car that I work on, from any manufacturer. You want a better handling car? Great, get tubular control arms, polyurethane bushings, polyurethane body mounts, quicker ration ptman and idler arms, larger diameter sway bars, etc. DO NOT alter the structural design of the car, under any circumstances. You want a stronger K member, great, it will help the rigidity of the car. You want to remove the K menmber of the car for some "geometry improvement/camber curve improvement"? I HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THAT. It is that simple. Fix what you want, improve anything you want, when you understand exactly what you are doing. Do not mess with a factory design unless you know everything about why it is wrong (and I have no doubt that the factories get things wrong, even Chrysler), but don't "fix" something by changing something structural that doesn't appear to be understood. Let me ask the following question, specifically for our cars (the F/M/Js9. Could the Alterkation front end, with its suspension geometry correction, have not been made in such a way that the frame rails have been kept in position correctly?
The point about the tie-rod anchor point is not about washers or tubes, it is how far the bolt is sticking out. The longer the bolt, the easier it is to bend. If the forces are going to bend a bolt, then they will bend a sleeve, unless the sleeve is very heavy wall. I can't say anything about heim joints on street cars except to say that I don't know of a lot of cars using them, including some of the high dollar cars.