Steering Knuckes

[SWithrow]

Wondering if others have had the steering knuckles on their trucks go bad.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Yes, both of mine went bad within a month of each other last summer. I have about 80K miles.

 

[cerberusiam]

Wondering if others have had the steering knuckles on their trucks go bad.

What do you mean steering knuckles?

 

[SWithrow]

The part that the hub assembly mounts to</SPAN>

 

[chipster]

what went wrong on the knuckle???

 

[Bob4x4]

what went wrong on the knuckle???

No kidding... ... ... ... ... ... . ????

 

[DBentley]

Did someone break them when doing ball joint replacement?

 

[cerberusiam]

Yes, both of mine went bad within a month of each other last summer. I have about 80K miles.

What happened to make them go bad?

 

[SWithrow]

When the second set of ball joints were needed (First set were replaced under warranty) the mechanic called me and said that the upper tapered holes on both the knuckles were worn so bad that the knuckle fell off when they removed the ball joint nuts. They tried to insert the new joints in and it they wouldn't tighten up. I'm thinking the upper joints were never torqued correctly from the dealer or the metal is softer than the joints.

 

[cerberusiam]

Wow! That is a LOT of wear to mess the taper up that bad. I take it bottom is good but the top bad? That would track with that cheap POS ball joint they use in there.

 

[SWithrow]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if a loose ball joint (Not tighten to spec) could cause enough wear to make useless. And the whole reason I am asking this is I install XRF's uppers and lowers and the left side has play(I torqued everything to specs), enough to want to replace them. I haven't torn it down to check if the knuckle is bad or if the XRF's are shot. They have less than 10k on them.

 

[Bob4x4]

Or maybe they just stroked you or did not know how to tighten??

 

[cerberusiam]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if a loose ball joint (Not tighten to spec) could cause enough wear to make useless. And the whole reason I am asking this is I install XRF's uppers and lowers and the left side has play(I torqued everything to specs), enough to want to replace them.

The question being where is the play. If the XRF's use the crappy OE design with a spring loaded upper that may just be the way they are. Or they are shot again. At htis point I would have to take it apart myself and find the problem. Considering some of the bad press on the XRF's don't discount the BJ's as the problem.

 

[Prairie Dog]

What happened to make them go bad?

I thought he meant the U-joints. My knuckles are fine I guess.

 

[Bob4x4]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if a loose ball joint (Not tighten to spec) could cause enough wear to make useless. And the whole reason I am asking this is I install XRF's uppers and lowers and the left side has play(I torqued everything to specs), enough to want to replace them. I haven't torn it down to check if the knuckle is bad or if the XRF's are shot. They have less than 10k on them.

The XRFs are highly over rated. they are also known to distort the axle housing so a proper sized ball joint will not fit tight

 

[jhenderson]

I was very disappointed in my XRF joints. I would not use them again.

 

[SWithrow]

Can you expand on the problems?

 

[Bob4x4]

Can you expand on the problems?

They do not last and can oversize the opening in the axle housing

 

[SWithrow]

***update***

Two weeks ago I put a new Upper Joint in the left side and have zero movement when I tug on the wheel (Knuckles are just fine). The joint I removed had up and down play and considerable side to side play. Today I was still having a popping while going from drive to reverse and reverse to drive. So I jacked up the right side and discovered the right side was just as bad as the driver side so I ended up replacing both upper and lower as the lower had some up and down movement and was extremely lose. I will have to agree with others that the XRF product is JUNK! (You get what you pay for) Less than 5k on them. The only time my truck is off road is to pick up hay for the horses.

 

[cerberusiam]

Moog = junk. XRF = not much better than Moog. Replacing only 1 joint per side or even only one side is probably part of the problem. One part is loose and one is tight so the stress naturally goes to the tightest part. Mixing ball joints is also a big no-no, replace uppers and lowers in pairs with same quality.

Do NOT use a standard upper that is just a spring loaded pin. First choice would be a full ball joint in the upper instead of the OE design with a spring. Finding those reasoable is tought. The next option is an HD 1/2 degree offset with a full ball and socket that nets ZERO movement. Then they last well for normal use. For hard use, might as well pony up for the DynaTracs or Carli's and call it good cuz it will eventually cost that much anyway.