Heim joints CAN BE stronger assuming you arnt using a dinky wink little heim. The term "heim" came from the company H.G. Heim that was granted the patents for the design. Heim joints date back to WWII. Germans used these rod ends on their planes. Heims started out being used on airplanes but soon became used in the power transmission industry. There are currently over 15 US companies that produce these types of rod ends. They range from stamped steel ends to stainless steel ones. The 17-4 PH stainless rod ends are prob the strongest of rod ends. If your links are going to see a lot of side load you'll want to avoid using a heim as this will wear them out quickly. Heims are less likely to bind up compared to ball joints which are limited to the amount they can move.. The whole thing about using heims and mounting them is very important. A heim mounted in double shear means that the heim joint has mounting material on both sides of it with a bolt passing through it all. The shear stress that passes through the heim joint then is passed onto the bolt. If the bolt is mounted in a double shear mount, then the stress goes through more than one point of the bolt. There is more than one plane for the force to go through. A single shear mount only has one plane for the force to be transfered through adn thus is weaker than a double shear mount of the same size. The double shear is stronger than a single shear BUT if you use a large enough bolt ia single shear mount shouldnt be a problem. With very little wear on a heim it is possible for it to pop out. where as the ball joint would have to wear a humongous hole for it to pop out...but would most likely break with a little play....uh...i think thats all for now....oh ya btw heims DO need to be maintained and checked more so than ball joints.....ball joints having a boot keeps them out of contact with the sand, dirt, blah blah blah that heims are more likely to see. I guess you could relate these two to an O-Ring chain vs. a Non O-Ring chain.... the non o-ring CAN last as long as an o-ring chain if maintained and lubed properly.....