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Reaming knuckles

broncoswede61

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
1,384
Loc.
Los Angeles,CA
So I'm slowing starting to work on my F150 disc upgrade and I need to know how hard it is to ream out the knuckles....I've never done it before so I don't want to screw it up.Any tips and suggestions?

I think I'm going to keep it tie-rod under since I'm keeping it stock height.

TIA
 

SteveL

Huge chevy guy
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Messages
11,609
Loc.
Hawthorne ca
reaming em out is easy. Just don't go too far. To use f-150 knuckles with the stock tie rods you just need the adapter bushings from chuck.
 

Madgyver

Bronco Madman
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Messages
14,678
Use a 1/2" drill with BC Bronco's reamer and go slow with cutting oil. Remove little material at a time and test fit as you go until it's right.
Do this and you'll be fine...
 

hd03sporty

Sr. Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2003
Messages
388
Loc.
Tucson AZ
Madgyver said:
Use a 1/2" drill with BC Bronco's reamer and go slow with cutting oil. Remove little material at a time and test fit as you go until it's right.
Do this and you'll be fine...

I second the "go slow part" your forearms will thank you for it, mine were sore for weeks after the drill hung up kicked mine into the fender a couple of times
:'( I wanted to cry bad!!!!!
 

SaddleUp

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 23, 2004
Messages
9,655
Loc.
Vancouver, WA
hd03sporty said:
I second the "go slow part" your forearms will thank you for it, mine were sore for weeks after the drill hung up kicked mine into the fender a couple of times
:'( I wanted to cry bad!!!!!
LOL, My pinky still hurts. Not only did I smash it twice using a hole hog while reaming them I turned around a little bit later and knocked the caliper off the radius arm on one side and when it landed on the floor my pinky happened to be there at the same time. It looked like I had taken a meat tenderizer to it for a few days after that.
 

mudstud

Contributor
Bronco Bonehead
Joined
May 19, 2005
Messages
1,504
I did mine on a drill press. The reamer I used was sharp and took away material quickly. As said above use plenty of cutting oil and go at it slow. As you get close to where you think it is at the proper depth check with the tie-rod. Do not ream to deep. It took me only about 30 minutes. That was with the drill press at it’s slowest speed.
 

FFMDX

Sr. Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2004
Messages
542
Loc.
Roseville, CA
I have found that the 78-79 F-150/Bronco knuckles have TREs that are bigger than the stock EB....meaning that the bottom portion of the hole is going to be wider. If you go TRO and ream the top, you'll have an hourglass shape in the steering arm, some people don;t mind the shape and install the TREs. I used F-150 knuckles,, went TRO, reamed them and the used Chucks' TRO bushing adaptors (I'm using Chebby 1 ton TREs). All I can say is WOO HOO!!!! No more hour glass the the bushings look like they were meant to be there. I did, however, consider doing what Saddleup said, by braising and re-doing the hole, but I don't know how to braise, and just wanted to work with what i had.

Sean
 
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