Its a regular tie rod with heims on it. He just welded a "brace" to it just to give it protection from rocks. It also gave him a some what of a flat surface to weld on for the hydro assist. Everything went together like it should.
Half of my steering came from off road design.
You're essentially correct, I got what I paid for I guess..at least I though it was a good deal.
Dana 60 front and 14 bolt rear already set up for disk brakes. 4.10 gears in both front and rear. The 14 bolt has a Detroit Locker and the front is welded. He gave me complete crossover steering (I'm only using part of what he gave me) and hydro assist..all for 1800 bucks...I feel I did good...I'm also in CA btw were just The front is going for $2000.
Seems like that steering box is your biggest problem. If you do not know how to put that sector shaft and cover back in place correctly, in can cause the whole box to be messed up. There is more to it than most think. I know because I messed one up, and had to take to a professional that knew what he was doing to fix it. Between the bad steering box, possible worn tie rods (hiem joints), and alignment every thing is out of whack.