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wj knuckle swap so far

userbmx1315

userbmx1315

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Dallas, NC
so i finally get some time in to my axle, geared, new ball joints (uppers and lowers), new pads, hub spacers, 3/4 heims, and some link made up. and going to run a yj steering box and a zj pitman arm
so far i'm trying to decide if i'm going to run the wj rotors redrilled and pay $100 each unit bearings or run the sport trac rotors (around 40 each)

questions tho. is the yj box bolt in other then the 4th hole?
looking on how i can stiffen it up.


pics of my set up so far. cause posts are worthless without pics

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Clean that crap up, looks like .................... well crap ;) You can use 2000 and up XJ/TJ unit bearings, which from the looks of things you can find used very easy. I used summit racing WJ slotted rotors that I drilled out myself. Weld those spacers on, a tack where the hub bolts are should do....... just do not weld the spacer to the hub! Not bad sofar........... but clean that rusty cob webbed mess up :twak: Oh, those 3/4 heims, are they threaded 7/8 X 18?
 
iknow to clean it. going to sand blast it at work. still got some work to do. will be welding them on just bolted it to get a tight fit. the heims are 3/4 16
 
Looking good so far, just needs cleanup as others have said.

Are you able to get full lock to lock with the straight tie rod? I had to bend mine out a bit but I'm running TRE's so the rod itself sits a little higher and hit the spring mounts. I chose to run the sport trac rotors since I didn't get the WJ stockers. I just needed to add one washer between the hub and rotor to center the rotor in the caliper bracket. I have noticed the mounting holes in the sport trac rotor are a little bigger and have a bit of play...not sure if this is an issue or not, maybe I need different studs? Also had to grind down the OD of the unit bearing to fit in the rotor but that only took a minute.

You're off to a good start, the braking performance is worth the effort!
 
ColoradoRaptor said:
Weld those spacers on, a tack where the hub bolts are should do....... just do not weld the spacer to the hub!
Click to expand...

Colorado, Im sure there is a logical reason to weld but what's the reason anyone doing this mod couldnt leave the spacer unwelded? I figured the reason not to weld it to the hub is bc if you ever need to replace the hub you'd lose the spacer as well?? If this is a dumb question I apologize, just asking some questions.

Bmx, this looks good, I am definitely planning on doing this swap but I think Ill prob use tres.
 
on the ball joints. were those the wj ball joints or xj ball joints?
 
MG2000XJ said:
Colorado, Im sure there is a logical reason to weld but what's the reason anyone doing this mod couldnt leave the spacer unwelded? I figured the reason not to weld it to the hub is bc if you ever need to replace the hub you'd lose the spacer as well?? If this is a dumb question I apologize, just asking some questions.

Bmx, this looks good, I am definitely planning on doing this swap but I think Ill prob use tres.
Click to expand...

Actually you will not loose it if you weld and have to swap knuckles! Like I said just tack it and if you ever have to swap you just grind the weld and there you have it. Tacking it will make sure it stays in place if you ever have to do maintainance with the hub off ect. Just make sure everything is bolted tight before you tack it on! Not a dumb question by the way, make sense.
 
thanks guys. and the tie rod does hit but i'll be trimming it and moving the trac bar bracket so it wont be in the way
 
I'm going to disagree with the tack recommendation. It is important that the spacer is fully welded with good welds.

Stock, the bearing is pressed (seated) into the knuckle then held in place with the three bolts. With the spacer, there's not enough depth to fully seat the bearing so you're relying on those three bolts to hold your tire on!

Give it some nice welds or take it to someone that can weld to cast.
 
Deadman 94 xj said:
I'm going to disagree with the tack recommendation. It is important that the spacer is fully welded with good welds.

Stock, the bearing is pressed (seated) into the knuckle then held in place with the three bolts. With the spacer, there's not enough depth to fully seat the bearing so you're relying on those three bolts to hold your tire on!

Give it some nice welds or take it to someone that can weld to cast.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with this synopsis of the welding of the spacer. I have not considered that before, and it is a very valid point.
 
Deadman 94 xj said:
I'm going to disagree with the tack recommendation. It is important that the spacer is fully welded with good welds.

Stock, the bearing is pressed (seated) into the knuckle then held in place with the three bolts. With the spacer, there's not enough depth to fully seat the bearing so you're relying on those three bolts to hold your tire on!

Give it some nice welds or take it to someone that can weld to cast.
Click to expand...
X2.

Remember that the surface of the raised portion of the hub is holding the weight of your vehicle. You want that thing welded on.

What material is the knuckle though? Cast steel I think? Can an idiot just MIG/fluxcore this or does it require pre/post heat or special rod/wire?
 
Knuckle is cast, and I beleive if you heat up the knucl;e with a torch and then immediately weld it you should get a good weld. I am no pro welder, but I had success in the past with this method. I would not go crazy welding this piece in, but tacked very well would be my suggestion. maybe 3-4 one inch stiches to hold her in place.
 
I've only seen them fully perimeter welded to the knuckle, that's probably what I'll do. My welder doesn't have a very high duty cycle though when welding stuff that heavy, so I'll probably do 1" stitch welds all around it, then keep adding 1" on in sections till it's fully welded.

Or I'll just bring Ross jeep parts and beer and harass him into welding it for me :eyes:
 
its always a good idea to preheat cast before welding whether it is cast iron or steel. id say 450* then weld it hot and dont let it cool down quick. (post heat) the interpass temp is around 1200* or so.so you dont have to worry about over heating it. not to sure though since i havent welded cast since college. but i know pre heat is required on cast anything. some lincoln softweld 55 or ferroweld would be a good stick for welding that since high nickel wire is EXPENSIVE.
 
For mine I just took it to a friend that had a pretty good rep for welding stuff.

He put 4, 1" stich welds on it.

I never measured, but the bearing does seat into the knuckle after the spacer but it's only something like and ~1/8th of an inch. Maybe even a 1/16th or less. Either way, it's not a lot at all and definitely not something I'd look past. I'm still a little weary about this part of the mod to be honest, but I figure if it fails than I'll add it to the list :) It's holding up good so far and out of all the WJ swaps that go on, I can't say I've heard of a failure in that area.
 
the hub sets in about half as much into the knuckle with the spacer on there. people have gotten away with no welding, but they should be fully burned in.


the knuckles are cast steel. you dont really need to per/post heat them, but its pretty easy to do anyways and does help with penetration and nice slow cooling rates. sacrafice an old hub and weld up the spacer with the hub bolted and torqued to spec.


2mczjtf.jpg






kastein said:
Or I'll just bring Ross jeep parts and beer and harass him into welding it for me :eyes:
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

i like this idea. ill charge a beer per inch :D
 
foxwar71 said:
the hub sets in about half as much into the knuckle with the spacer on there. people have gotten away with no welding, but they should be fully burned in.


the knuckles are cast steel. you dont really need to per/post heat them, but its pretty easy to do anyways and does help with penetration and nice slow cooling rates. sacrafice an old hub and weld up the spacer with the hub bolted and torqued to spec.


2mczjtf.jpg








:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

i like this idea. ill charge a beer per inch :D
Click to expand...

I'm not normally one to disagree where I see no reason but since you just contradicted what I posted I will say that's not quite right :)

You have to keep in mind not only the thickness of the spacer but the offset taper inside of the knuckle itself. I'd be interested to see the exact measurement but it's not half. It's more likely an 1/8" of an ich. That's going off of feel though, not actually measuring.

Once I placed the bearing into the spacer, it "catches" before it seats into the knuckle. That space between the bearing and knuckle where it catches is about 1/8".
 
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