i am building a dana 44 out of a 79 ford f 150 and i was wondering if it is okay to have the knuckles milled flat and drilled and tapped for high steer arms, is it going to be strong enough or should i just buy some flat top knuckles for it, i just thought it might be easier to mill them flat.
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front dana 44 knuckle ?
- Thread starter rolz4x4
- Start date
cLAYH
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
If your knuckles aren't already flat on the top then there is nothing to mill.
- Location
- Thornton, CO
What Clay said, it's just not possible. There isn't enough material for that to work. At the risk of sounding like an ass, why do you think we get flat top knuckles in the first place if we could just mill standard ones to accept the arms???
It's been done and it = a bad idea. I can't find any of the pics right now or I'd show you why.
1. Much thinner on the top of the Ford knuckles. More like the Chevy passenger side after they went to 10 bolt axles.
2. Less width between the ball joint and where it drops off to the spindle mount. i.e. less room for the arm.
3. No boses for the studs.
Couple of options.
1. Use the F-250 knuckles (driverside is flat topped and passenger side needs cleaned up, drilled and tapped), brakes rotors, etc. Requires the use of a 16" or larger wheel to clear the calipers or a heavily offset 15". I believe the pattern can be redrilled to a 5X5.5 if needed. Bonus - BIG A$$ BRAKES.
2. Use the Chevy or Jeep flat tops and a 73-76 Chevy (small bearing) spindle, and Chevy caliper bracket. Then use your Ford rotor and hub for the 5x5.5 lug pattern. Another flavor is to use all the Chevy stuff for a 6x5.5 lug pattern and then you can use the larger (and cheaper) large bearing spindle.
3. Find some flat tops off a 76-77 F-150 club cab. They can be identified by having leaf spings in front vs. the coils in all the other F-150's. Pretty rare find.
1. Much thinner on the top of the Ford knuckles. More like the Chevy passenger side after they went to 10 bolt axles.
2. Less width between the ball joint and where it drops off to the spindle mount. i.e. less room for the arm.
3. No boses for the studs.
Couple of options.
1. Use the F-250 knuckles (driverside is flat topped and passenger side needs cleaned up, drilled and tapped), brakes rotors, etc. Requires the use of a 16" or larger wheel to clear the calipers or a heavily offset 15". I believe the pattern can be redrilled to a 5X5.5 if needed. Bonus - BIG A$$ BRAKES.
2. Use the Chevy or Jeep flat tops and a 73-76 Chevy (small bearing) spindle, and Chevy caliper bracket. Then use your Ford rotor and hub for the 5x5.5 lug pattern. Another flavor is to use all the Chevy stuff for a 6x5.5 lug pattern and then you can use the larger (and cheaper) large bearing spindle.
3. Find some flat tops off a 76-77 F-150 club cab. They can be identified by having leaf spings in front vs. the coils in all the other F-150's. Pretty rare find.
- Location
- Foresthill, CA
Lincoln said:
Would you be refering to the vaunted and highly prized "Camper Special"?
I'll never forget the day I saw my first one.
It was Omaha, 1984. I had just finished sucking down an Otter Pop in the back seat of my Dad's 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, Signature Series, Royal Brougham, Landau Edition. A green 1978 Ford pick up rolled by, and at first I swore it was an F-250, owing to the leaf springs and all. But then, what to my wondering eyes should appear? The 5 bolt wheel pattern spun by, as if in slow motion. I can still remember the smell of my Strawberry Otter Pop as it was ejected at high speed from my 9 yerar old nostrils. I screamed for my Dad to turn around and get me a better look. Alas, it was not to be, as we were headed to Istanbul (or was it Constantinople?) for a vacation. Oh, the tears that were shed.
In any case, ditto Lincoln.
CRASH
CRASH said:
I remember mine too. Driving down the road in my home town when,,,, WHOOO NELLIE! There it went, not the elusive camper special but an honest to goodness '76 Ferd club cab. Unlike you I didn't have anywhere important to be, so after a full investigation and some careful stalking I found the guys house. He didn't turn out to be overly friendly after being followed for 20 miles (did I mention I found him leaving the bar). The casting numbers had to wait. Ahh seems like a few years ago. Wait, it was.
cLAYH
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Lincoln said:
Or option 4:
Use all Dodge stuff(knuckle out) from any '80s 1/2ton if you want 5on5 or or 3/4ton for 8 bolt. All '80s Dodges that I have seen have flat top knuckles.
HTeK
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Grass Valley, CA
Gil BullyKatz
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- 2003UB313 Planet ERIS
the super cab knuckles might be a myth regarding the flat top variant...
well...
according to Mr N's recent research into the reclusive jackalope of knuckles that is...
From the website...under misconceptions
well...
according to Mr N's recent research into the reclusive jackalope of knuckles that is...
From the website...under misconceptions
Last edited:
Gil BullyKatz said:
He's off a little bit at that. The 78-79 were coil sprung and had the same knuckle as the others.
I guess I need to go and run that guy down again so I can see.
I haven't figured out why the F-250 knuckles can't be used with the F-150 spindle and caliper bracket. I forgot my measuring stick last time but the spindle pattern looks exactly the same on both of them. Might be a fun option to explore.
NCSUcherokee
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Carolina
Lincoln said:
I believe that the f150 knuckle has a recess in it that allows the caliper to mount in the right place, the f250 knuckles don’t have that.
