No, not UPS, our own Junkyddog, Matt Browne of http://www.overlandengineering.com/. With TREs for Volvo C303 steering links now up there with hen's teeth on the availability scale and even my Swedish sources coming up empty, it was time to solve the problem. The issue is that the ball joints are integral to the track rod end, so when they wear out, you need new TREs for a vehicle that hasn't been produced in 30 years and is interchangable with nothing. So, Matt's beefy but artistic solution: 1" diameter 1/4" wall DOM tube and greasable 1 ton rod ends. Sweet. :D Not all that straightforward. Getting the curvature at the link ends right and all the geometry will have taken some doing.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa272/LRDG/Tech%20photos/012.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa272/LRDG/Tech%20photos/009.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa272/LRDG/Tech%20photos/007.jpg

nice, but when he gonna get a real website?

He's far too busy to bother with a website. :D
J/K homey, looks good :grinpimp: where's the chrome?

What am I missing here? I know I am missing something but it looks like you could just drill it out and put hiems on it. 3/4 would be fine. Why the difficulty?

Heims may work in the dryer areas of the world. But here in the east you need real TRE’s.

Heims may work in the dryer areas of the world. But here in the east you need real TRE’s.

x2. I watched a 2 month old heim joint self destruct due to the NorthEast conditions....however, I have seen some cool rubber boots that fit over heim joints...

Heims may work in the dryer areas of the world. But here in the east you need real TRE’s.

You know thats a myth right?

Even if you're scared of running heims getting a taper reamer and switching to any one of a million different tie-rod ends isn't complicated at all, people do it daily. I do love me some heims though, never found a TRE that's half as tight as my 3 year old 60k+ miles steering heims.

You know thats a myth right?

Maybe for a trailered buggy but not a rig thats used street and trail in all seasons. I notice that only the dry climate guys fight this idea. I ditched a heimed Pan Hard rod for the same reasons.

Maybe for a trailered buggy but not a rig thats used street and trail in all seasons. I notice that only the dry climate guys fight this idea. I ditched a heimed Pan Hard rod for the same reasons.

Meh,

A good high quality Teflon lined hiem of the right size will outlive a Tre in all conditions. And there's no stupid little boot to worry about.

You know thats a myth right?

You know I keep hearing thats a myth but it sure didnt work out that way for me.

I live in the midwest and every heim I have bolted on a truck turns to shit in a really short period of time. It hasent mattered if they were used in steering or the mounts for shocks they just dont last very long.

I am back to poly bushes on my blingsteins and TRE's on all my steering components because they last more then a year. I guess its just really hard to believe till you deal with it first hand. Then again I drive my junk all the time in all kinds of crappy weather. Have you ever seen 6" deep piles of salt in the center of intersections on the way to the trails by you?:shaking:

Quit buying crappy hiems. :p

Quit buying crappy hiems. :p

LOL I have quite bying crappy heims...now I buy TREs:flipoff2:

Meh,

A good high quality Teflon lined hiem of the right size will outlive a Tre in all conditions. And there's no stupid little boot to worry about.

Gonna have to bust you on that one Dave:p When you daily drive your rig in all conditions you will be replacing your QA1, teflon coated, bling'in heims on your trailing arms, tie rods, and whatever else about every year. My biggest issue was on the rear trailing arms, while they could be a bit bigger imo, they wore out fast on a DD regardless of how clean you keep them. But I just replace them when they wear out instead of worrying about breaking TRE's, and carrying spare TRE's, and a TRE puller, etc

Brendon

Even if you're scared of running heims getting a taper reamer and switching to any one of a million different tie-rod ends isn't complicated at all, people do it daily. I do love me some heims though, never found a TRE that's half as tight as my 3 year old 60k+ miles steering heims.

The problem is the design of the Volvo tie rod. The ball joints are integral to the curved pieces at the end of each side of the track rod. They cannot be replaced. There is nothing to re-taper, and were you to ream it out to accept off the shelf ball joints (an original concept), you are making do with "just acceptable" rod ends. When you get wear in the ball joints, you have to replace the entire curved steel rods at each end of the tie rod. They are no longer readily available.

Matt re-tapered the knuckles to accept Ford 1 ton rod ends but fabbed new linkages to accept the TREs. Getting the geometry and curvature right is no small thing as they have to curve out from the knuckle but not so far as to foul on the springs. The Volvo designed tie rod and steering arm were relatively weak (I had already bent it fairly well) compared to the relative beef of the axles, so these are also much sturdier.

As for Heims vs TRE's, I can't say that I have an informed opinion.

Gonna have to bust you on that one Dave:p When you daily drive your rig in all conditions you will be replacing your QA1, teflon coated, bling'in heims on your trailing arms, tie rods, and whatever else about every year. My biggest issue was on the rear trailing arms, while they could be a bit bigger imo, they wore out fast on a DD regardless of how clean you keep them. But I just replace them when they wear out instead of worrying about breaking TRE's, and carrying spare TRE's, and a TRE puller, etc

Brendon

Hey bud, good to hear from you!

I would bet 10 to 1 you were using 3/4in hiems. Upgrade to 1in or 1.25 and you won't have that happen anymore. If they are too small, then they wear faster as slop allows debre into the ball.

I've been running 1.25 for at least 4 years and they are as tight as the day I bought them.

Hey bud, good to hear from you!

I would bet 10 to 1 you were using 3/4in hiems. Upgrade to 1in or 1.25 and you won't have that happen anymore. If they are too small, then they wear faster as slop allows debre into the ball.

I've been running 1.25 for at least 4 years and they are as tight as the day I bought them.

How many of the last 4 years has your rig been daily driven? While I prefer and run heims, I think they don't last as long on a DD rig especially in harsh conditions. But, like you, I trailer my hiems to the trailhead so it is a non issue.:D

How many of the last 4 years has your rig been daily driven? While I prefer and run heims, I think they don't last as long on a DD rig especially in harsh conditions. But, like you, I trailer my hiems to the trailhead so it is a non issue.:D

What up dog?

I think I drove that on the street the first yar. But not daily.

You guys just need to get some 1.25 hiems and stop this nonsense. :flipoff2:

Is there anybody out there that can make me a steering setup tre-to-tre for my 303 axle

You might try Matt Browne:flipoff2:

Seriously, Matt has done right by me on both occasions he forced me to accept his good will, but I would like a new sticker to put on my truck after I tore the first one.:flipoff2:

I had Heims as well, didn't last. 3/4 QA1. My problem was keeping mud out, coated them with lots o grease. Still didn't work.Explanation of premature wear at bottom.

Machinist friend took a slight amount off the knuckle to make it flat and fabbed me up some longer arms.... I went to 3/4ton TRE. Bent the shaft of one TRE on some rocks but the TRE has held up fine.

Will post pics so you guys can see what I did.

The Drag link and tie rod that I did have before was more staple shaped ( like what the OP says his fab guy avoided....the tie rod bar was so heavy it would rotate on the heims and cause death wobble.
Longer arms netted me a straight tie-rod bar. Next is hydro-assit.
JC
BTW machinist cursed me non-stop so I doubt he would ever do it again.

Hiems aren't street legal up this way and even if they were I would not think them a workable solution for the Volvo steering on land Rover leafers as there is not even close to enough room for a 1 1/4" hiem with the double shear type mount that I would consider "correct" (thanks Whatroad) for that application.

Not totally disagreeing with you Buck. I run hiems in several applications on my personal junk......hate the fawkin things....but I run them. Those Ford TRE's don't wear out very easily, and they work well for this application. The tie rod has to be bent to clear the axle, miss the springs etc. and etc. RPR's photo doesn't show the clearance issues at full lock.

Just out of curiosity, what would you be recommending as a "quality" hiem?

For those wondering the tubing is actually 1 1/2" dia 1/4" wall.

Machinist friend took a slight amount off the knuckle to make it flat and fabbed me up some longer arms.... I went to 3/4ton TRE. Bent the shaft of one TRE on some rocks but the TRE has held up fine.

Will post pics so you guys can see what I did.
Any chance we can see those pics?


I want to put some Volvo axles under my HZJ78 Land Cruiser Troopcarrier, and will have to have all the steering linkages made up, as the axles will either come with LHD steering linkages (instead of the RHD I need) or none at all.