The sealed ball-bearing spherical bearing design's only advantage would
be to eliminate regular lubrication, (as does nylon) but with a very
long service life. It would be expensive, overbuilt and probably
overkill for such a simple application like this, but that's what I
like about Jeeps: simplicity, ruggedness, and ultimate reliability.

If the plastic doo-dad ever croaks on mine, I'll probably weld on a
spherical bearing end just for the novelty. I'd probably opt to weld
the bearing directly to the pedal stud, then cut the actuator rod just
short enough to slip into the hollow spherical bearing rod, bottoming
out to allow just enough freeplay. (Could shim the master cylinder to
accomplish this as well.) The result would outlast the rest of the
Jeep.

I have to wonder if the '07 redesign will also include this part.

-JD