Steering Knuckle installed and functioning!

Feb 23, 2007 7 Replies
D

On a cold and blistery Michigan night, I spent last night putting my TJ's front right steering knuckle back together, after having to drill out a broken caliper bolt. . and I just had to ask, how many others have forgot to install the spash-guard after bolting down the 3 hub- bolts. . . .oops. . . then after using a floor-jack to wedge the knuckle into the tapers on the upper & lower ball studs, and FINALLY getting the upper nut to lock, and not turn the ball-joint, and getting it nice and tight and getting the cotter-pin in, ... I realize I forgot to put the ABS sensor wire bracket on it first.. So off comes the nut again and we start again! :)



Cold weather + no sleep = sloppy mechanic.



Thanks to all you guys who helped me by answering all my newbie questions. It's the great people on this newsgroup that I always think about when I do the jeep-wave.. Jeeps just seem to attract nice people. (for the most part..) I had an aircooled vw before the Jeep, and their newsgroup is equally active and friendly. (and they wave too!)



One strange thing happened when I went to take it for a test-drive. It was in the garage for a week, in cold weather, with me playing the radio quite a bit.. so the battery was all but dead. I jumped it, let it run for about 5-6 minutes, then put it into gear and crawled out of the garage. I stopped after I cleared the door, and then it kept acting like it was going to stall if I didn't feather the gas-pedal.. it would idle at around 250 rpms if I didn't hit the gas. I had never seen this before. It did this for my entire test drive of about 10 minutes. After I parked it in the garage, I turned it off, then back on, and idle was fine.



Is there something about low voltage and idle speed? Once the alternator was turning and the engine running, my voltage should have been fine for running normal I would have thought..



Also, What is the secret to tightening the 175 ft-lb axle nut? ... Having someone stand on the brakes while you crank on it?



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M

I held the brake pedal down on the last TJ axle nut I helped fix. It still makes me wonder 'why' people undo that bolt unless they are changing the hub out. The whole works pulls out as one piece and you can change u-joints or drill without having it all apart.

As far as the caliper goes.... I don't remember you asking about the fix for it. Doesn't the caliper bracket just unbolt from the back of the hub so you can just lay it on the ground and drill it out or put it in a drill press and do it?

The caliper bracket slider was dinged on our 88, and I just removed that one part to weld up the notch and grind it smooth. It has 2 bolts holding it...

Oh, I also forgot the splash guard once... Felt about as pissed as you did...

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > On a cold and blistery Michigan night, I spent last night putting my
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D

Yes, I am now asking myself that same question Mike.. After the fact, to maintain my sanity after all that work, I am going to lie and say that it was worth the learning experience :)

On my TJ, the caliper bolts go through the caliper, and thread into 2 holes on the steering knuckle. The lower bolt broke off some time ago apparently, and in the process, put an interesting wear pattern on the rotor and pads, in addition to wearing a nice groove in the steering knuckle where the whole thing was rocking back and forth each time I used the brakes.

I have a few machinist friends here at work, and I didn't want to try and drill it out myself, and chance ruining the thing, so off it had to come.

I'm assuming there are some big differences between the brakes on your

88 Cherokee and my 98 TJ? I don't have a caliper bracket that I know of...
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M

The part I am talking about has the upper and lower slide bars that the brake pads move along as they get used and wear. This slide bar can get notches worn in it from a loose caliper. These notches 'will ' hang up the pads and cause uneven braking/pulling and a brake pedal that 'jumps'. It can cause one pad to wear out and the other to be left new which also stresses the crap out of the wheel bearings....

This part also is the part that the caliper bolts go into. It is a detachable piece, not a cast part of the steering knuckle so it can just come off to fill weld and grind flat any notches that that loose caliper cause you. It is worth about $125.00 for a new one which is why mine got 'fixed' instead of replaced.

Your new TJ 'might' be different, but I can't see them being so sleazy as to now include a 'wear' part as part of the knuckle core.

Oh, as far as the idle goes, that is normal. The computer forgot how to idle and had to learn it again.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06
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(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
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M

Or you could get the bolt as tight as you can on the lift, install the wheel, lower it down on the ground, and torque away...

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D

Mike, .. This is a 90-00 XJ knuckle, which looks similar to the one I've got on my TJ..

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It appears this is the knuckle from 84-89, that I assume you have?

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M

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Thanks. Yup they made it all one piece, figures.

Mike

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