useing ' safety washers ' on a road driven rod end/ sperical bearing steering linkage

in my ecotec conversion, on my alfa romeo spider... I NEED ROOM.      the end links are ok, safety washers there.. but on the drag/ centre link  when i lower the link it will come close or graze the lower inner A arm pivot point,,, there  is a shop in the u.k  alfaholics,, on there ' fast road kit ' they use rod ends/ rose joints. on all 6 points.. 2 on each side of the center link ( 4 rod ends )  buton there system,, there are no safety washers on there cars/ set up... safe? i plan to use safety washers on the end links... but for the centre link? do i need a safety washer there... i need room..lol     

Drill and lockwire?

photo 1 and 4 are from my car.... 2 and 3 are from the alfa romeo bb

Looks like the rod end doesn't have anywhere to go if it were to pop off.

Perhaps an extra wide nut would be able to double as the safety washer. McMaster gives the dims so you can measure.

How about a flanged nut? Maybe I'm missing the clearance issue

Edit: Matt beat me to it haha

1 st photo between the rod end and the lower  A arm  the rod end on the right is very close to the A arm,, and to make my ecotec fit,, i must lower that rod end about 1.75 to 2 inches.. i belive the rod end would  strick the A arm in  that area

Not being familiar with "safety washer" in this case, and never have used that type of rod end, do I have this correct?

The issue with spherical rod ends vs tie rod ends is that if the bushing in the end fails, it can slip over the head of the bolt (or nut), ruining your day, and possibly those of others on the road.

The safety washer is a larger diameter washer that will prevent this in a case of rod end failure.  This washer also is tapered  to allow full movement of the rod end without contacting the washer.






I would either find another way to make the conversion work, or use a different assembly, either with a tie rod end or with a different hardware solution. I would also reverse the direction of the bolt so that the head is on the side of possible interference, and safety wire or cotter pin the nut on.   Putting yourself in the position of losing your steering, or locking it up due to parts failure is not an option.