Heim joint steering slop

[70Sport]

I have the stone crusher set up on my rig for the last five years or so and I have recently been having some issues with shimmy and occasional death wobble. I thought it might have been my tires so I rotated them but no change. So, I just inspected the rest of the front and found that I have some slop in the passenger side knuckle where I drilled out for the 3/4" bolts. The hole appears to have egged out a bit.

So, now what do I do? Do I get these studs from BC Broncos and their bushings? Then I think I have to ream the knuckle too?

Thanks

 

[garberz]

Those heim studs won't work on knuckles that you've already drilled to 3/4". I have the same set up, and have had to replace the heims because of a little slop, but yours must have gotten loose to egg out the knuckle. You could weld up the 3/4" hole and redrill it, or start over with different knuckles.

 

[marcm2030]

I had the same problem with egging out. i swapped the knuckles and used the heim studs, everything is nice and tight. Marc

 

[u10072]

Only use a metal lock nut on steering along with red loctite-- you do that and they wont come loose-- go the lockwasher route and you are going to have issues.

 

[70Sport]

So, can I not ream the knuckle out a little and use the bushings then the heim studs?

 

[garberz]

No, the 3/4" hole in the knuckle is bigger than the bushing.

 

[01Dudley]

Drill the knuckle out to a larger diameter(1") and make a 1" outer diameter / 3/4" inside diameter sleeve / bushing out of a piece of steel. This will me much stronger than the soft cast knuckle.

 

[chuck]

No, the 3/4" hole in the knuckle is bigger than the bushing.

Accually, our TRO bushing will repair that sloppy 3/4" hole, no problem. The bushing is tapered inside and outside so you still get a good tight fit.

 

[garberz]

I'm glad you schooled me on that Chuck, that's some good info right there. Ooops.

 

[chuck]

I'm glad you schooled me on that Chuck, that's some good info right there. Ooops.

No problem, did not mean to offend, just thought you didn't know. I am at home but think the OD on the big end is .97". We sell about as many for this repair as we do to flip the tie rod. The straight bolt works O.K. if you can get the hole tight but to do that you need a ream not a drill bite. PS the bushings are chromally.

 

[Skiddy]

Accually, our TRO bushing will repair that sloppy 3/4" hole, no problem. The bushing is tapered inside and outside so you still get a good tight fit.

i am going to need this sometime, pretty sure i have the same problem

 

[70Sport]

Hey, so I finally did a little work on this. I used Dudley's advice and found some 1" steel tubing with a 3/4" ID and sleeved the knuckles. Now the bolts are very tight in the knuckle.

But, I still have a tiny bit of play at the joints and am thinking the heims need replacing.

So how do I tell if the heims need replacing? And where to get good replacements?

Thanks

 

[toddz69]

Hey, so I finally did a little work on this. I used Dudley's advice and found some 1" steel tubing with a 3/4" ID and sleeved the knuckles. Now the bolts are very tight in the knuckle.

But, I still have a tiny bit of play at the joints and am thinking the heims need replacing.

So how do I tell if the heims need replacing? And where to get good replacements?

Thanks

Have someone else wiggle the steering wheel back and forth while you put your fingers on the SREs where the ball and the body intersect. If they're worn, you'll be able to feel the relative motion between the two in your fingers.

In terms of replacements, the top of the line is NHBB but you'll pay dearly for them. Below NHBB, Aurora and FK both make good grades of joints as well, priced a little more reasonably than the NHBBs. Or, if you're running 3/4"x3/4" joints, I found the ones that Randall Thomas at Performance Unlimited (Bulletproof Steering) sells to last a long time. I don't have them on steering but I do use them on my trac bar and they've lasted longer than any other brand I've tried.

Todd Z.