why did my steering arm studs break?

[Detroit Dan]

Within the last year I put in a steering lift block to compensate for the 6 inch lift. After I bought it somebody told me it was not the ideal way to correct it, and that the blocks are known for loosening up. I've checked it once or twice and found all the nuts on the new studs were still tight. Lately I've been experiencing some weird wiggling when I hit the brakes, and after changing a tierod, wheelbearings, and retightening the spring u-bolts, I was going to replace the calipers. Pulled into a parking spot at the parts store and turned the wheel to back up a little to straighten it out, when POP there goes the steering. Took a look and found 3 out of the 4 new studs holding the arm and the block to the top of the knuckle broke, and 1 of them looked like a fresh break.

Very thankful it broke where it did, and not on the highway that I had just exited, with 2 of my kids with me. So, any of you D60 experts got any ideas? Obviously my first thought is that they were overtightened or undertightened. I don't think I overtightened them, but who knows, they had to have broken for a reason. They are a pretty beefy stud and I tightened them by hand, not with an impact. Another thought would be leverage, but even though I lifted it I haven't got real big rubber on it, they're only 235/85/16 measuring about 32" tall. I don't plow with it, heck I barely even drive it, this truck might have 3000 miles on it since I got it and put it on the road.

This is just another issue I've had in a very short time with my first D60. My whole life I've heard and read about how great they are, but all I've had is one problem after another. Dana 44s I used to put axleshaft u-joints in every so often, and balljoints now and again, but at least I got to drive them and use them. I plowed and ran 35 or 36 inch tires on my 44s without a bit of trouble. As far as problems go, the toughest front axle I ever owned was the IFS in my 97 3500. I beat the hell out of that thing with oversized mud tires and a 950lb snowplow for ten years, only real trouble was the wheelbearing hub assemblies didn't like the weight of the plow and the diesel and they would fail every couple of years. Still better than this POS. Everyone says IFS is weak and unreliable, well if I could trade my Dana 60 for an IFS out of a 90s 3500 I'd do it in a second.

So tomorrows project is to pull it off and see if I can get the broken studs out. Broke off flush, so it might not be fun. At least they haven't been in there for 30 years. Then I'll consider if I want to just replace the studs, or find a dropped steering arm or draglink to use instead.

 

[bison]

Lucky you it didn't happen on the road,that could've been nasty.

I don't quite get were that lift block is located,..did you drop the pitman arm?

 

[Detroit Dan]

it's a kingpin Dana 60. On the driver side at the top of the knuckle, there are four studs sticking up, that the steering arm bolts onto. To correct the steering, one way is to unbolt the arm, replace the studs with longer ones, put a block in the middle then re-attach the steering arm on top of the new block, the longer studs stick through and you put the nuts on top of the arm. Essentially the block is just a spacer to move the steering arm up, and putting the drag link back to a horizontal configuration.

Last night I checked on ORD's website, and they sell a billet block and high strength studs. They mention that the longer studs are prone to breaking, because of poor metal quality, so theirs are 190,000+ psi ARP studs, in excess of a grade 8 rating. Looks like I'll be ordering a set of those.

 

[btfarm]

They mention that the longer studs are prone to breaking, because of poor metal quality, so theirs are 190,000+ psi ARP studs, in excess of a grade 8 rating.

Doesn't exactly give you a nice warm feeling about the lift method.
Glad it was off the highway and you guys are safe Dan!

 

[great white]

...To correct the steering, one way is to unbolt the arm, replace the studs with longer ones, put a block in the middle then re-attach the steering arm on top of the new block, the longer studs stick through and you put the nuts on top of the arm. Essentially the block is just a spacer to move the steering arm up, and putting the drag link back to a horizontal configuration...

That's the first time I've heard of that method and it makes my mind throw red flags all over the place for a couple reasons.....

I know money it tight all over, but this is they way to go:

http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/Dana60crossover.htm

What is this on?

Is it a D60 swap into a gmt400 or an older truck?

Edit:

Just went looking for a picture:





Wow, that's even more frightening than I pictured it.....no wonder the bolts shear.

Waaaay too much torsional load.

Hardening 'em isn't really a cure either.

Sorry, probably not saying much you want to hear right now.......

 

[great white]

Oh, forgot to add that a drop pitman arm (as mentioned above by Bison) would also probably fill the bill.....also much more affordable then the crossover setup.

Still, not ideal either....but better than that "lift block" idea.

 

[bison]

IMO The only way to prevent twisting these bolts off is to have that spacer block solidly keyed to both the knuckle and the steering arm, the bolts are only supposed to keep it in place.

 

[Detroit Dan]

Crossover steering seems a bit elaborate, it's just a near-stock daily driver. I should have gone with the dropped pitman arm, but I figured if they make and sell these parts, and a million people are using them with 44 inch tires, I should be ok. I can see where there is a torsional load on them, but geez these are some big, beefy studs. Never had any kind of load on them ike a plow or oversized tires. I already ordered a set of those ORD super-duper studs, but I'm going to look into dropped pitman or draglink too. Since big tires may be in it's future. For the meantime, I need to get it back on the road because I've got a camping trip planned in a week and a half, and my Blazer or Suburban won't pull that trailer.
Maybe instead of loctite I'll use anti-seize on the new studs, cure a lot of headaches next time they break. ;> Right now I'm almost done taking the whole knuckle off, since I was unable to get any of the broken studs out with easy outs. I was able to drill through them ok, which doesn't say much for the quality of the studs that broke. Today my goal is to try to locate a machine shop that can extract the broken pieces and clean up the threads.

 

[Joey D]

How much lift is on the truck? Is the drag link level?