Ok here is my take on all that,
The bend was so the Heim or spherical rod end would sit at rest in the middle of it's articulation limits. That was because of the already high angle of the rods and at the time I was working on fitment to the H3 I had it at 24". I later came down to 23 1/2 so now the Heims are not exactly level at rest.
I do have some fitted misalignment spacers under the outer connection. We tried several. The plan was by having the BP articulate 30 degrees as opposed to 23 on the OEM they would actually reduce stress on the rack, not putting more force because they were bigger therefore throwing out the "fuse theory" When the OEM's max out on rotation then they become a lever on everything.
I DO NOT have bump steer.
I also noticed that my front end did not bounce as much over rough terrain, because the BP tie rods do not have the flex the stock ones do. Randy at BP said that was interesting that I noticed that and wondered if I would.
That shot of mine was a combination of me being high centered on that ledge which takes weight off the front end and creates some tow in, which can be seen if you just jack one up, and pressure on the tire on the ground causing the Heims to articulate to the full extent.
That action is also why to be able to set toe you need the weight on the H3 to be on rotating plates rather than jacking up repeatedly to try to guess at it.
Scary looking, but even though the tie rods might flex some it is very minimal. Mine are not the really big ones because I thought these were going to be the best fit for clearance. There were not 16mm tie rods at the time I had these made and 14mm were out of stock. I figured what the heck, a fun project and I enjoyed the knowledge Randy had thru our online designing process.
If the rack just goes in and out without the upward pressure on the pass side I think they will hold up a lot better. Of course that would be ideal but even with the sleeve the force is on that end, it's just not transmitted to the other secure end. So I figure and did state at some point maybe I might have a seal start leaking at that end but it did not happen on either H3.
I don't know all the solutions but all of this so far has worked.
Since I did not blow up anything in that situation in the picture, I'm sticking with this setup.
I agree bending a stock one would not help but rather max out the ball joint outer end.
In the case of a Rancho lift using their raised knuckles is supposed to keep the tie rods near stock angles while just turning up the torsions an excessive amount increases the angle.
I have thought about using their knuckles alone without the lift, but at one time they would not sell me those separate?
I'm not sure of the result of that.
Something with less height could work but have some made would be involved.
Maybe some of you can think on that?
I have reached my limits on some of this and how it all works on the vehicle as opposed to paper and theory. However I do eagerly follow you guys that have more knowledge and ideas.
Mod on!!
Hope all that made sense.zzzzzzzzzz
