Update: Steering Knuckle. etc

[Big T]

Got the passenger side steering knuckle off rather easily:

Had to remove the upper A-Arm and grind/drill out the rivets that held the upper ball joint:

Still having major problems trying to drill out the bolts holding the bearing hubs:

Looking for suggestions on how to remove the bushings on the upper A-Arms as I have new ones by Moog:

This has not been a fun job.

 

[racer55]

I usually cut a piece of angle iron to length to match the space between the bushing mounts and press the old ones out and new ones in.
A skilled and careful torch operator can nick the bushings just enough to get them to collapse some without cutting into the mount so they will drive out with a hammer but its tough.
The other option is to dissasemble a hacksaw and put it back together with the blade inside the bushing and cut through,the rubber makes this tough though as well.

 

[Big T]

Finally was able to drill the bolts out of the steering knuckle:

Also was able to remove the bushings from the upper A-Arm. Combination of hammering off the end caps, grinding down the busing on the inside of the arm, hammering out the inner sleeve after appling some heat, cutting the outer sleeve with a sawsall and then hammering it out. One side is done and ready to be put back together. Need the seal for the axle in the steering knuckle and the gasket at the other side of the axle, both sides. I'll start dismantling the other side and then start putting it back together.

 

[fastjohnny]

Your gonna hate me now. I think I've got a pair of bare knuckles laying around somewhere from a frame swap on my 99. (resurrected from a drunk hitting a tree)

 

[Big T]

Your gonna hate me now. I think I've got a pair of bare knuckles laying around somewhere from a frame swap on my 99. (resurrected from a drunk hitting a tree)

No hate. Once I was committed to remove the knuckles, drilling them ended up being fairly easy once I got the right drill bit. The PITA right now is installing the new bushings in the upper A-Arm. I have bushings for the lower arm, but I'm going to pass on that. Everything has been in pretty tight condition, no slop, save for the lower ball joint on the driver's side which had a little up/down play. The CV axles come off amazingly easy. If I could get the bushings pressed in tomorrow, I could finish the job tomorrow. Just have no idea who could press them in.

 

[Big T]

Your gonna hate me now. I think I've got a pair of bare knuckles laying around somewhere from a frame swap on my 99. (resurrected from a drunk hitting a tree)

Fastjohnny, I'm going to need at least the LH (driver's side) knuckle. Part #15976405LH. I've drilled the bolts on this one, but my holes are off and I'm mangling the knuckle trying to break the remains of the bolt off.

E-mail me: [email protected]

Need the knuckle by next weekend.

Thanks.