TRE or Heim for steering?

[Corban_White]

This came up in another thread and I am looking for opinions on the matter. Which do you use? Why? Is your choice different depending on how much street use the vehicle will see? Which one lasts longer? Heavier vehicle vs lighter vehicle, bigger tires vs smaller tires-which one? I know there is questionable legality using heims on a street driven vehicle but lets just discuss the other pros and cons of both-assuming they are "legal." :greg:

 

[mbryson]

I don't care for the "slop" you can get in a heim steering system. Tie rod ends for me.

 

[Shawn]

Humm... I have them on both my crawler and my street Jeep. No slop on either one and they have been ran for years. Getting a good quality heim make a difference. However, tie rods last much longer if they are maintained.

 

[Kiel]

I would do TRE on a streeable rig. I had 1 ton TRE on the samurai and they were good the whole time. I have heims on the full hyro buggy

 

[RockMonkey]

I voted. Where's my sticker?

 

[Corban_White]

Here you go

 

[Corban_White]

My experience with TREs has been less than stellar but that is on a 3/4 ton truck with a six inch lift and IFS (for the time being). Granted, it does have 4 TREs, 8 poly bushings, 4 ball joints and 7 greasable pivot points in the steering system-and that is just from the pitman arm to the tires, it doesn't include any joints from there to the steering wheel! :O:O It seems to go thru TREs very quickly but that could be attributed to other factors than the TREs themselves. Keep the thoughts comming!

 

[420willys]

i voted HIEM joint. cant beat them for a trail only rig and like said earler just get a quality joint and they will last.

doe's anybody know the strength of a GM one ton TRE.
jason.

 

[jswainthug]

HEIMS!!! Easy install, easy repair and reasonably cheap. I have mine on my trail only rig and they work wonderful.

 

[ID Bronco]

Hiems are easier to replace and mine have lasted quite a while, This is a mostly trail rig.

 

[Meat_]

Best thing I ever did to the K5 was ditch the 1 ton TREs and put heims on it.

 

[waynehartwig]

I don't care for the "slop" you can get in a heim steering system. Tie rod ends for me.

Ditto... I also don't care for them in suspension for the same reason.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... Quality heims are expensive. Johnny/Jimmy/Super Flex Joints are about the same price, but rebuildable for ~$7 when they wear out. It's another $40-60 for another heim.

 

[lewis]

I have had both and the heims I used weren't the high quality so they wore out very quick. I could be wrong but I think you get more range out of a TRe then a heim unless you run the high misalignment spacers.

 

[Tacoma]

TRE's

Good for 100k and cheaper than heims. And available everywhere, usually.

 

[waynehartwig]

TRE's

Good for 100k and cheaper than heims. And available everywhere, usually.

That too...

....I like your avatar

 

[Tacoma]

Thanks. I honestly believe it, too.

 

[jsudar]

I went with TREs. They are greaseable, available everywhere, and are just as easy to replace as heims, assuming you know how to properly use a BFH.

Seriously, I went with TREs because I know I can find one at Bubba's Auto Parts in BFE land or a farmers field for that matter. When was the last time the local auto parts store in Kanab carried 7/8" chromoly heims with a kevlar liner?