so im working on installing my hydro assist cylinder today and noticed a smallish crack in the drivers side knuckle on my 79ford hp 60. the crack is less than an inch long and starts in the rear inner hole that the grease cap/high steer arm is bolted to and runs to the inside of the knuckle.
any chance i can fix it by welding or should i replace the knuckle? im almost positive this has been there for a while, ive only been out a couple of times since installing the axle. if it can be fixed, what kind of weld should be done? i have a mig but not too keen on welding cast myself. i have a good tig welder nearby. cant afford those badass knuckles wagoners sell and not sure where to find a used one, had a hell of a time finding this axle in the first place. any help/info would be much appreciated.
later, zach

I would replace it, there are always 60 parts on ebay, looking into it, BTW, that is forged steel not cast..

You should replace it.

The knuckles are definetly cast not forged. I believe they are nodular cast iron which many people call cast steel.

replace it, last thing you need after upping your steering power is to break your knuckle and have to do more work:D

I was looking into this very thing for the past week. it seems that the ford 60 knuckle are a little weaker than are the chevy or the dodge. I have talked with 5 different people who had this happen to them. The common that they all have is a FORD knuckle with high steer and a hyd assist or full hydraulic. The casting is ~ .330" thick at the upper rear casting area and ~ .500" down at the bearing area. Welder boy makes a Heavy Duty knuckle that he adapts to the ford wheel hub as does Wagoner Machine.
Welder boy also stuffed his cracked knuckle in his oven and welded it up and gussseted and it really did not go as good as was hoped for. Mark @ WMS tried the same thing to see how long it would last and it wasn't ot long before it cracked again.

I am proably going to get someones HD knuckle just because I don't need a from a stress crack that I failed to see in time failure while traveling down the highway .

Toss it out. Be glad you found the crack now and not on the trail.

thanks for the inf guys, i will toss it. now how about a replacement? cant afford 600 for fancy ones right now. posted in wanted and checked ebay, no good. any other sources you can think of? later z

I could suggest a wreckers as you can find them here, but your area might be different.