Roxanne: 1985 Cj-7

[colman]

if you want a little more wheel base you might want to drill the centerpin hole 1 inch offset and that will give you an inch of wb. shouldn't hit the tank and since you have to redo the driveshaft anyway probably now is a good time

[DRAGOONRANCH]

ya gonna have do do the spring plate also

[85cj7]

well i shipped the passanger side knuckle out a week ago and got a message from the guy today that he couldn't machine the knuckle because it was bowed at the spindle mounting surface, and that is where his jig bolts to the knuckle. So it wouldn't sit flat on the jig and so wouldn't be machined flat. I had it shipped back to see if its salvagable. Here is an attached image, what is the general consensus. i don't know if the gap is 1/16" or 1/2" because there is no scale.

[Sharpe]

Dont suppose it could be from the balljoint/hydraulic press incident do ya???

[85cj7]

my immediate thought was that i had fubbarded them all up, but i was pretty careful that when i pressed them out that i watched closely for bending. And if you think about it if the press did bend them it would have bent the ball joint portions of the knuckle in so the spindle portion would have had to bow out not in as in the pic.

[Seth]

I agree, that is ryan's carpet, and probably his tent stake too eric. At least the guy was decent enough to be honest with you. Hope he didn't gouge you on shipping. How much harder would it be to just source new (to you) knuckles?

[uglyota]

I am really confused here. Did you tell him ahead of time that you were sending him a knuckle that was trashed? How in the world did you bend it that way, and you can't possibly expect your axle to stay together for any period of time if the mating surfaces don't mate. This is your DD, right? Tell the machinist to throw that thing in the trash and get yourself a new knuckle.

edit: I am slow tonight. I see that you had him ship it back to you and you took the picture. That sucks, but I am still not sure how you could be uncertain of the difference between 1/16" and 1/2" on a picture you took yourself. Whatever, moral of the story is the same, throw that thing in the trash and get a new one.

[robertf03]

Looks like you need a new one. Dodge ones are easy to find, but they've got some extra featuers on the knuckle for the caliper bracket. I don't know if you can ignore them and use your brakes or if they would be in the way.


Did you send this to a business or a residential address? Looks like the photographer is wearing socks.

[85cj7]

yah that pic seems sketchy as sh*t, he took it not me, thats why i couldn't tell how far it was bent. Ok should i have him mail it back and spend $20 of my money doing it, or should i tell him to trash it and try to find another one?

[Seth]

Seems shady. I would have it shipped back to you. That's just bc I would want to see for myself what the deal was. Also, I would not want anyone who uses a plastic tent stake as a straight edge making judgement calls for me. He very well could be telling the truth, but still raises a flag to me.

[agjohn02]

ah, i see now. forgot what it was your were doing.

tell him to bolt it to his jig and torque it down really tight. put a torch to it till its glowing and keep tightening the bolts till its flush. then quench it in oil.

[uglyota]

what are you crazy!? The carpet in his shop will catch fire!

[85cj7]

finished the drivers side cage to frame tie-in. I had all the parts cut out and ready to go last week but was waiting on a bushing. Looks just like the other side.

[85cj7]

i got the springs yesterday and took them apart to repaint them and remove the rust, while i'm at it i'm going to to replace the center pins and spring clamps/retainers, or whatever you want to call them.

[85cj7]

rear spring