I have a RC front 60 from a 90-94 Ford F-350. There is not enough room for more than one or two bolts to hold a high steer arm on, so I need to weld the arm on. I need to know if the steering knuckle is cast or forged, and what rod I need to use to weld the arm on. The arm is one inch thick steel. Is 7018 rod gonna do the job?

The nuckle it's self is cast, I don't know much about stick welding,
so call you're local welding supply and they should know.
ericfilar@fatcity

My advice is don't do it!!! Dynatrac and Currie enterprises machine the ball joint style knuckles for hi steer arms. I'm sure they would be willing to sell you new knuckles and they may even machine yours for you. If you are still considering welding them, think about what would happen if you had a failure on the trail or street. NO STEERING. NO CONTROL.

I've been on the trail with several people that have had failures on welded steering knuckles. Land Cruisers, full size Chevy truck, a Jeep and a Scout. They all failed in the rocks under high torque at low speed. They could just as easily have failed cornering at 45 mph getting to the trail.

Here is some info on welding ductile or grey iron anyway:

You can weld ductile iron and grey iron but you are just asking for problems. High nickle content (Nirod) or 308/309 stainless rods are the most common rods used. You must preheat and postheat the casting in a controlled manner to avoid carbon buildup in the weld toe. This carbon buildup will create a very weak area in the casting that will fail rapidly under load. You need to be very experienced and even then there is a real possiblity of failure.

Originally posted by lt1yj
My advice is don't do it!!! Dynatrac and Currie enterprises machine the ball joint style knuckles for hi steer arms. I'm sure they would be willing to sell you new knuckles and they may even machine yours for you. If you are still considering welding them, think about what would happen if you had a failure on the trail or street. NO STEERING. NO CONTROL.

I've been on the trail with several people that have had failures on welded steering knuckles. Land Cruisers, full size Chevy truck, a Jeep and a Scout. They all failed in the rocks under high torque at low speed. They could just as easily have failed cornering at 45 mph getting to the trail.

Here is some info on welding ductile or grey iron anyway:

You can weld ductile iron and grey iron but you are just asking for problems. High nickle content (Nirod) or 308/309 stainless rods are the most common rods used. You must preheat and postheat the casting in a controlled manner to avoid carbon buildup in the weld toe. This carbon buildup will create a very weak area in the casting that will fail rapidly under load. You need to be very experienced and even then there is a real possiblity of failure.

Let me clarify this. There is already one 1/2 inch bolt holding the arm on, and I may have room to squeeze another one in there, but I don't think one or two bolts is enough for a steering arm, so I want to weld it as well. Between the bolts and the welding I'm confident the arm will be plenty strong. I will be welding a web in between the high steer arm and the original steering arm (which whill house the tie rod, for now). What I really need to know for sure is whether this particular knuckle is Cast or Forged. I have heard people say both and I want to know for sure so I know what rod to use.

It's cast ductile iron. You will need to use rods I mentioned earlier. Nirod, 308 or 309 stainless. You cannot use any mild steel rods. 7018, 6011, 6013, 7014 etc will gaurantee failure.

Use "ground body bolts" or dowels to hold the arm in place instead of standard bolts. The steering arm bolts are in shear which is only 10% of the capability of the joint clamp load. If you use ground body bolts or dowels they can take the shear load without loosening or breaking the bolts.

Originally posted by lt1yj
It's cast ductile iron. You will need to use rods I mentioned earlier. Nirod, 308 or 309 stainless. You cannot use any mild steel rods. 7018, 6011, 6013, 7014 etc will gaurantee failure.

Use "ground body bolts" or dowels to hold the arm in place instead of standard bolts. The steering arm bolts are in shear which is only 10% of the capability of the joint clamp load. If you use ground body bolts or dowels they can take the shear load without loosening or breaking the bolts.

Thank you. This is helpful. Is this the concensus, that the steering knuckles are cast, not forged, and require high nickel rod? Is there a test I can perform at home to tell the difference between a cast peice of material and a forged one?

Instead of welding it can you get you new arm to line up with the cast one. Then you can add another hole and run a long bolt thru both arms with a spacer. This way you have the two by the balljoint and one out at the end.

The original arm will be used for the tie rod. The drag link is on the high steer arm; the tie rod (at least for now) is on the original arms.