installing steering knuckle

i'm fixing my wifes TJ after an accident she was involved in. anyways i put a XJ front axle in but i'm reusing the knuckles off of her axle. i already installed new upper and lower ball joints on the axle "C" ends and have the knuckle hanging there with the nuts just loosely threaded on, but i can't seem to find out how i'm supposed to press the knuckle onto the joint.

do i just tighten the nuts on the ball joints until it looks ok?

or is there a specific torque spec for those?

or is there some other way your supposed to get the knuckle on the balljoint before you tighten the nuts???

thanks,
alex

partsmike.com has a tech section that explains nicely.

maybe i'm just tired, but i can't see how to use that on mine. my ball joints don't go into the knuckle and bolt to the "C" end of the axle.

they're pressed into the "C" and the knuckle bolts to them. i guess i should have mentioned i'm working on a Dana30.

i have the ball joints pressed in already. do i just use the torque specs that he had (35-50#) and that should seat the knuckle properly or is it different for the dana30?

Sorry, I won't be of any help other than the link. I have no experince with the ball joints on a D30. Maybe someone that a FSM will let you know, mines at home or I'd look it uop for you.

My best guess would be take a hammer and see if you can seat the ball joints enough with it. However see above.

Yes, just torque the nuts to specs (forget what they were, but 35 for the top and 50 for the bottom sounds close).

to install the knuckle: 75 ft lbs for the top, 80 ft lbs for the bottom.
heck tie rod ends get torqued down to 55 ft lbs.

Go back and forth between tightening the upper and lower a few times, and watch to make sure everything is lining up right.

to install the knuckle: 75 ft lbs for the top, 80 ft lbs for the bottom.
heck tie rod ends get torqued down to 55 ft lbs.

Go back and forth between tightening the upper and lower a few times, and watch to make sure everything is lining up right.

Click to expand...

thanks, i'll try that today.