Steering knuckle replacement???

climberjeep · Jul 20, 2004

Well, took the jeep to the dealer to get a maintenance done, and the mechanic said my brakes were going because my knuckles are worn out. He wants $800 to replace the knuckles. Can this be a DIY job with junkyard parts, or should I sell a kidney and go ahead with the mechanic?

PS- If this is a DIY job, what should I look for in the "new" knuckles to make sure they aren't worn out too?

NotMatt · Jul 20, 2004

Can you give more details as to exactly what this tech said? I'm having a hard time imagining how the knuckle itself can go bad... sure he's not talking about the ball joints? wheel bearing?

Even at that I'm having a hard time connecting any of those to brakes wearing quickly...

More details...

climberjeep · Jul 21, 2004

To be honest, NotMatt, I was confused too. I also though that it was wierd to wear out the knuckles. I think the tech is talking about where the brakes attach to the knuckles, but I can't believe that would wear out a new set of brakes (had the entire front rebuilt in Dec. 2003). Anyone else have any ideas as to what the problem could be? I didn't get many specifics because I didn't pick the jeep up.

red91 · Jul 21, 2004

climberjeep said:
Well, took the jeep to the dealer to get a maintenance done, and the mechanic said my brakes were going because my knuckles are worn out. He wants $800 to replace the knuckles. Can this be a DIY job with junkyard parts, or should I sell a kidney and go ahead with the mechanic?

PS- If this is a DIY job, what should I look for in the "new" knuckles to make sure they aren't worn out too?

THE GUY IS FULL OF $HIT !! The hubs maybe worn, since they sit ( bolted into) inside the knuckle, but they are a sealed unit. A bad hub might make the brakes wear out but seems to me that it would cause more of a wobble / alignment problem than anything else.

Lets see... 2 knuckles at 800.00, and a complete brake job at $500.00, HEY!!
its only a 1150.00 screw job... oh yeah, the alignment $45.00 ... lets just round it up to a $1200.00 screw job and call it even.

1. You can do the front brakes yourself. If the seals on your calipers are ok, just make sure the piston moves ( i.e. not frozen ) Get 2 new rotors and front pads, some Coke-A-Cola ( Registered trademark ) and just take your time. Should'nt be more than an hour to do the fronts. THEN see if you need new knuckles... I'd sell some with 86K for $50.00 ea. no Hub. Thats how bad he F' ing you. He'll probably call a local wrecker and get close to the same deal and then mark them up 4 bazillion % ... OUCH...DIY baby DIY. :wave1:

lesslimited · Jul 21, 2004

OK, I read this here somewhere, and I recently noticed it on my rig. What can happen is that where the brake pads ride on the knuckles, a groove or notch can form which keeps the pads from sliding freely, which is what causes brake problems. The solution I heard here was to lay some weld down, then grind it smooth, which is what I'll be doing next time I have that stuff apart. FWIW

red91 · Jul 21, 2004

lesslimited said:
OK, I read this here somewhere, and I recently noticed it on my rig. What can happen is that where the brake pads ride on the knuckles, a groove or notch can form which keeps the pads from sliding freely, which is what causes brake problems. The solution I heard here was to lay some weld down, then grind it smooth, which is what I'll be doing next time I have that stuff apart. FWIW

Maybe I'm a DUMBSHIT but dont the brake pads sit in the BRAKE CALIPERS ??
The ONLY PART where they come together is the 2 bolts that hold the caliper to the knuckle...so unless at 80 mph and the 2 bolts come loose, you loose control when the caliper locks up your front wheel, you hit the semi in front of you that just went from warp speed to 5 mph and then...

:flame:

but that's just my .50 cent opinion...

lesslimited · Jul 22, 2004

red91inWA said:
Maybe I'm a DUMBSHIT but dont the brake pads sit in the BRAKE CALIPERS ??
The ONLY PART where they come together is the 2 bolts that hold the caliper to the knuckle...so unless at 80 mph and the 2 bolts come loose, you loose control when the caliper locks up your front wheel, you hit the semi in front of you that just went from warp speed to 5 mph and then... :flame:

but that's just my .50 cent opinion...

Go look at your XJ, Dumbshit

And you'll see what I'm talking about. The calipers only squeeze the pads. What keeps them in place are the little ears on top and bottom of the pads that ride on the knuckles (or extensions of the knuckles)

eace:

red91 · Jul 22, 2004

lesslimited said:
Go look at your XJ, Dumbshit And you'll see what I'm talking about. The calipers only squeeze the pads. What keeps them in place are the little ears on top and bottom of the pads that ride on the knuckles (or extensions of the knuckles) eace:

OK you got me I forgot about them, yeah i did go look... shut up...But I still cant believe that the caliper is going to wear through the cast that much. AND even if it DID $800.00 for a pair of knuckles ?? COME ON LESS admit this guys getting SCREWED worse than a virgin on prom night...

You did get me though, I'm big enough to admit that :tear:

eace:

no harm, your fowl..

lesslimited · Jul 22, 2004

red91inWA said:
OK you got me I forgot about them, yeah i did go look... shut up...But I still cant believe that the caliper is going to wear through the cast that much. AND even if it DID $800.00 for a pair of knuckles ?? COME ON LESS admit this guys getting SCREWED worse than a virgin on prom night...

You did get me though, I'm big enough to admit that :tear: eace:

no harm, your fowl..

It doesn't take much wear to create a shallow groove that will hold the pad from pressing evenly against the rotor. Under braking there is quite a bit of force applied by the pads against those knuckle extension thingys.

But hell yeah, he's getting a screw job. I think Quadratec has the knuckles for like $92, but even to spend that would be ridiculous if all it needs is a couple tiny beads of weld, and some grinding.

red91 · Jul 22, 2004

lesslimited said:
It doesn't take much wear to create a shallow groove that will hold the pad from pressing evenly

thats wild. NEVER seen it happen... guess I have something to look forward too...

lesslimited · Jul 22, 2004

Keeping a light coat of grease on those thingys will help prevent the wear, but I'm not real good about remembering to do that...

natep1 · Jul 22, 2004

Go with the weld. I did it on my YJ 6 years ago and itis still holding. If you go with new knuckles, very easy to do with a BFH and a BiggerFH, definately a do it yourself job.
Good luck

jneary · Jul 22, 2004

the steering knuckles CAN wear where the pads mount to them. i see it quite often. it is usually caused by the rotors being slightly warped causing the pads to constsntly move in and out of the slides. if you think about it, everytime the wheel makes a revolutionthe pads move. the wheels rotate thousands of times per trip. you can get used ones but make sure the surface the pad rides on doesnt have any notches worn into them. you also need to make sure the rotors are not warped.

BoXJer · Feb 1, 2005

Alright fellas, this is an old thread, but I'm a newbie here so I wanted to follow up on this. Since I hit about 60K my KNUCKLES have each developed a groove from the CALIPERS sliding on them. What seems to be the issue is that the metal that the calipers are casted out of is actually harder than the metal the Mopar knuckles are made of... A trusted source (neighbor) who works @ Les Schwab (Tire and brakes place here in the NW) told me about this. Says its a common occurence on MANY Mopar vehicles. It all came about cuz my brakes just squeaked and squeaked. It bugs the shit outta me and I haven't decided what to do yet cuz to have it done by someone else will run around $4-5 hundred each side. (screwjob? is that the phrase?)

I'd like to hear how the weld job held up or if I should just pick up a new pair and do 'em myself.

But I really don't know jack and just wanted to hear what everyone else had to say.

climberjeep said:
Well, took the jeep to the dealer to get a maintenance done, and the mechanic said my brakes were going because my knuckles are worn out. He wants $800 to replace the knuckles. Can this be a DIY job with junkyard parts, or should I sell a kidney and go ahead with the mechanic?

PS- If this is a DIY job, what should I look for in the "new" knuckles to make sure they aren't worn out too?

tchase · Feb 2, 2005

Two things:
1. Some vehicle I owned in the past (don't remember what it was exactly) used a stainless cap over the pad supports to avoid this issue. I think this could very easily be adapted to the xj brakes. Clearance for the thin cover could be gained either by grinding down the support or opening up the notches on the pads. Just a thought for those without a welder.
2. This has more to do with the original post. I have experienced failure of the caliper bolt mounting holes and the resulting jammed caliper/broken rotor/locked up wheel wasn't very pleasant. Luckily it happened at a low speed on my dirt road, it was kinda neat driving it the 1/4 mile back to the house with the front right wheel completly locked. Also luckily this was on an early model axle where the caliper bracket is seperate from the knucle and I didn't need to change out the whole knuckle. A newer model would require a new knuckle if these holes were damaged (and yes I know it could theoretically be repaired but how and how much $$ I don't exactly know).

Digger87xj · Feb 2, 2005

Find a garage that can/will braze them for you... By brazing I mean using bronze rod as a filler for the worn spots. Much cheaper than replacing the knuckles and the bronze will also act as a lubricant and it will not happen again as quickly.

This is a very common problem w/ jeeps and the higher quality brake pad manufacturers ( Wagner or Bendix for example) include small shims that attach to the brake pad to take up the slack so the pads don't rattle on the knuckle.

steveC · Feb 2, 2005

Something to check into...

I just put some new pads on the front of our (new to us, 150Kmi) 94 XJ a few weeks ago, these were NAPA ceramic pads ("ceramix" I believe? Not cheap...). Incidentally, these came with the pad tip shims that tchase mentioned, and a small vial of moly grease.

The installation sheet claimed that if there was more than .010" play between the pads and the knuckle's bearing surface, then use the shims to clean up the gap, else they'll squeak. The shims came in .010, .015, and .020 thicknesses. Ours didn't really need them.

If the pad bearing surfaces on the knuckle were worn, or undersize, these shims would work. If you had a groove or notch worn into the surface, they wouldn't really help *unless* you filed or ground the bearing surface flush (which I personally wouldn't want to do).

four_shot · Feb 3, 2005

My advise is take it to a local shop and ask them to weld the "slides" (lack of a better term) and grind them. The material they add will hold up well and give years of trouble free service. Brazing dosent sit too well with me 'cause of the softer metals involved. It is a common problem. I would think that an independent shop would be able to handle this kind of job with out a whole lot of drama, and really undercut the dealer too.

Steering knuckle replacement???

climberjeep

NAXJA Forum User

NotMatt

NAXJA Forum User

climberjeep

NAXJA Forum User

red91

NAXJA Forum User

lesslimited

Official MWC Brewmeister

red91

NAXJA Forum User

lesslimited

Official MWC Brewmeister

red91

NAXJA Forum User

lesslimited

Official MWC Brewmeister

red91

NAXJA Forum User

lesslimited

Official MWC Brewmeister

natep1

NAXJA Forum User

jneary

NAXJA Forum User

BoXJer

NAXJA Forum User

tchase

NAXJA Forum User

Digger87xj

NAXJA Forum User

steveC

NAXJA Forum User

four_shot

NAXJA Member

Similar threads