I ended up extending my lease til the end of January. There just wasn't enough time to get everything else done. Currently I'm taking a break from the Amazon to focus on a side project that is almost done now. I did however order some nice material to make the 4-link spacers from. I need to make five 2" long spacer tubes to convert from the 1/2" bolts to the 3/4" bores of the spherical joints. Decided to go with marine grade stainless DOM tube:
At $36/foot it's definitely expensive, but it's also ideal for this application. It does not need to be painted since it will never rust and it fits in the bore perfectly.