I just discovered that my driver side D-60 knuckle is cracked. :mad:
Yeah, what a big friggin' suprise!:shaking:

Here is my question; Does the kingpin knuckles for the '86 to '92(or about there) D-60's interchange with the '78-'79 Ford HP D-60.

I'd consider going to the dodge/chevy knuckle if it wasn't for the fact that the axle has all the other parts for it including the stock Spicer hubs and good rotors. So no sense in springing for more parts than I need.

If the later knuckles interchange it will give me more choices for hunting down a replacement.

Thanks in advance.


Eric

Here is my question; Does the kingpin knuckles for the '86 to '92(or about there) D-60's interchange with the '78-'79 Ford HP D-60.


On those ford dana 60 knuckles, from 1985 to 1991 will fit, but the taper for the tie rod is the next size smaller. If you need a 1979, i have one. steve differential eng. inc.

I'll PM you Steve.


If I redrilled the bolt pattern for the spindle to the Ford 5-bolt on a Chevy/Dodge knuckle would it work also?


Eric

Originally posted by steve gerstner


On those ford dana 60 knuckles, from 1985 to 1991 will fit, but the taper for the tie rod is the next size smaller.

Good to know info..thx Steve.

Just call Welder Boy (Bill)... 916-628-9364

He makes Dana 60 knuckles that you will never break. They're not gonna be cheap but you won't ever have to worry about em again. He runs em front and rear on his rig. :D:D Seriously, if you want bulletproof, give him a call...

Originally posted by Glenn
Just call Welder Boy (Bill)... 916-628-9364

He makes Dana 60 knuckles that you will never break. They're not gonna be cheap but you won't ever have to worry about em again. He runs em front and rear on his rig. :D:D Seriously, if you want bulletproof, give him a call...

It would be better to call Wagner Machine for similar knuckles...but their's comes with GM calipers and brackets to fit 15" wheels w/o grinding....and Same price as WB's

Ok, I called WelderBoy. I can't afford his Billit Steel Knuckles but he agreed to weld up the stock ones and repair the crack.


Here is the before pic

And after he got done with it :D

One more :D

On a totally unrelated note....I haven't seen Goldfinger for a while but I think that you left out the word 'to' in your signature.

"Do you expect me talk Goldfinger?"




;)

:flipoff2:

hopefully that band aid will last long enuff for you to save up for some of welder boys real work. :flipoff2:

I mean to scare you here.

If you're stock cast part failed, the welded part is going to fail MUCH faster. The S-N curve slope for a ductile iron part is around -6 and the weld is -3 on a semi log scale (WAYYY nonlinear).

I don't know welderboy's work but I hope he pre-heated and post-heated the part.

Either way get a new one soon. You could easily be betting your life on that one.

Thanks for the concern lt1yj,
It cracked from 20+ years of steering stress from the stock top arm. Not from weight abuse or hard driving. The stock casting is poorly designed with a too small radius at the corner in question. too much of a stress riser there.

As to wether WB did what you recomend...I dunno. But his statement to me was that he fixed them as if he planned on using them himself. Good enough for me.
I will be checking for cracks on a regular basis anyway since I'm paranoid......



Eric

i am guessing that if he makes his own knucles i think he knows how to weld cast....just a thought.:flipoff2:

chrisjeep7 - the pictures I've seen of his knuckles are formed plate steel. Not cast. Doesn't mean he can't weld cast well, I was just pointing out that the proper method is to pre and post heat. If it was not the S-N curve gets much steeper and failure would be even faster.

Alpo23 - Just wanted to make you aware that the repaired part is not as good as the original by a long shot. And as you said the original has a poor design to start with.

I personally would be getting a replacement. The part is probably less than $100, and you could swap it out in a few hours.

If you want to take some stress off that part you could invest in a cross over steering system. Stress the other one for a while.

Good luck.

i called WB to ask about his welding process. i left a message. when i talk to him i will report on his fix method.

Originally posted by Chrisjeep7
i am guessing that if he makes his own knucles i think he knows how to weld cast....just a thought.:flipoff2:

His name is Welder Boy. That sould give you a hint. He welds everything, no bener use, just welds in pipe 90's, some may say it is the wrong way, but if you saw his rig, his work, and his knuckles, AND his DRIVING you would know that it all works well and he knows his shit. From talking to him he is highly against welding to cast, and he managed to build front and rear 3 links susp. without doing so. But sometimes it has to happen.

As for the knuckle, it looks good, but i would want to put more steel around the whole face and beef it up not just on the side, but WB knows more than me.
Trust it until it totally fails, then you know the limits, and procede for a solution at that time.

Ian-

Originally posted by camo
i called WB to ask about his welding process. i left a message. when i talk to him i will report on his fix method.

he will most likly say Pre heat 200 degrees, 99% nickel rod, then post heat, and maybe peening. Thats how he fixed his ford nuckles a year ago before he started fabing them from scratch.

Ian-

I'm not going to beat this issue any more so here is my last post on it.

I have 13 years of design and failure analysis experience on heavy structures and powertrain components including cast iron, ductile iron, cast steel and mild plate steel for large mining and earthmoving equipment. I've supervised the weld repair of each of these materials for temporary and sometimes permanent field repairs, as well as written the specifications for the proper welding procedures for cast steel and plate steel fabrications. I have never condoned the weld repair of ductile or cast iron parts for a permanent solution.

I do not want to criticize welder boy. I do not know him or his work.

Here is my brief thought process on what I see in the pictures.

The first picture shows a knuckle with what appears to be a fatigue crack in the radius of the top king pin flange in the drivers side knuckle. The crack appears to have traveled 1/3 of the way across the rear face and is probably very close to the steering arm bolt hole. I assume from other knuckles I've seen with similar cracks that it goes a little further along the inside face. I can't really tell from the pic but there may be a second crack or it could be shadows from the flash at the parting line.

The third pic shows the crack weld repaired and the inside of the scab plate with a fillet weld.

In order to properly repair the crack the crack tip needs to be eliminated. That would involve gouging the material out around the crack until you reach parent material. The gouging also needs to leave adequate room for the plasma arc of the weld rod to reach the root and burn into the walls. British Weld Institute specifies a minimum of 45 degrees total included angle but from extensive testing we've shown a 30 degree bevel with an expert welder will work with a root opening of 6 mm.

That would leave a fairly large void to fill. I see a fairly small weld. If the crack remains inside the material it will grow in all directions and you won't even know it's there until it breaks or happens to come through on one surface and you see it.

In addition, even with preheat/post heat, and nickle rod the fatigue life of a weld is waaaayyyyyy lower than parent material. It's not a matter of if it will fail it's a matter of when.

I don't know if this is a dedicated trail rig, a daily driver, a trailered show truck, tow truck, or a farm truck. It doesn't matter to me (except show truck). As I said previously, I would get a replacement.

Originally posted by lt1yj
In order to properly repair the crack the crack tip needs to be eliminated. That would involve gouging the material out around the crack until you reach parent material.



FWIW, I drilled out the end of the crack myself before sending to WB. It did extend farther on the inside than the outside.
As soft as the cast iron was to drill I have to wonder just how strong the stock knuckles are to begin with.....

last two thoughts:
1) I will still look for a good stock knuckle or just save my money for the welded ones.

2) WelderBoy is STILL Da Man in my book. First rate guy to work with.


:flipoff2:



Eric

yes welder boy is da man. but the point we are trying to make is welding that crack is a bit scetchy at best. get a new one before you die.

I'm 100% behind what lt1yj said, plus this:

you will never EVER find the true end of the crack. however far you think it is, it's further, whever you think it ends, it's somewhere else. We've fixed more cracks in steel than I can count and it's never permanent unless we do some serous radiographic testing, and even then, we watch it religiously forever thereafter.