[Christ]

I guess with those images, it does change the geometry. In my head, I keep seeing tie-rod ends with offsets, where the bearing surface is actually higher than the threaded section, so that the threaded section is basically level with the top of the mounting surface after installation.

The way I do it, you're using the open-type spherical, not the studded one. You're just putting a bolt through the hole in the knuckle, put a 5mm thick spacer on it, and then lay the rod end over that spacer, washer, nut, and give it grief (it probably doesn't need to be that tight, but whateva, eh?).

You end up with a nut over top of the rod end, a bolt in a shear config between the spherical end and the knuckle, a spacer separating the spherical and the knuckle, and a nut below the knuckle's mounting surface.

After all that, the bearing is still closer to the mounting surface than with a traditional tie-rod end.