Willys Jeep Steering Knuckle Upgrade, DIY Procedure
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video I am going to share with you a willys Jeep steering knuckle upgrade that I have been doing for many years with zero problems. I first did this back in 1988 when I was working on a CJ2A. The customer was installing larger tires and was doing some off roading. After a while each of his wheeling buddies came to me wanting the same thing done so they wouldn't have to be towed off the trail again. Plain and simple, this is an easy upgrade and your knuckle/spindle joint will never come apart again. This will work on CJ's, wagons, trucks, early wagoneers, etc...... vehicle with a closed knuckle can benefit from this upgrade.
Picking up my project Willy’s CJ2A this week, your videos are great, keep up the awesome work!
Nice upgrade. I'm so glad you did this video as I plan on running bigger tires. Can't wait to get to this point. Thanks again Brian
Glad to help
I love all of your content. You do a great job with provided high details and no fluff. Great job in the editing room as well. I have a CJ, so most of the details do not apply to me, but I still find it very educational. Thanks for always sharing your knowledge! Mike
Thanks so much!
Great upgrade , will definitely be doing this to my M38 and the CJ3A. Your videos are always very informative , thanks and keep it up
Awesome work Brian, you definitely know your jeep stuff... thanks for showing us.
Thanks for watching!
Brian, very neat upgrade, thank you for that,,well done,, regards Frank
Glad you like it
That's a nice upgrade. Last I looked, McMaster-Carr had everything needed.
Mcmaster, MSC, and many others have everything you will need.
Thanks for the video Brian, I will be preforming this upgrade in the near future.
Glad it was helpful!
Very nice upgrade! It seems like there are other situations where this type of modification would be applicable as well 💪🇺🇸
yes, there are a lot of knuckles that would benefit from this upgrade.
Very helpful and elegant mod, thanks Brian!
Glad it was helpful!
I helicoiled I think 3 holes on one of my knuckles and so far so good. I know it's on the risky side. I'm not rock bashing but I have 31 1050 15 tires. I physically check them by shaking. As always great video.
I always do this upgrade whenever the tire size is increased. Thru the years I have witnessed many hubs fly off of knuckles on road and off. Keep and eye on your bolts for sure.
I think what your saying is the tapped threads and # 8,s add the strength. Before I think they were drop through. & the flat machined surface to eliminate wobble.
Like someone commented having heel coils in one I found one that had helicoils I would not use it for that reason not enough threads this fix will solve that problem thanks😀👍👍
awesome advise as always sir ty very much im gona try this
Go for it, not too hard to do and worth the time and effort.
Hola Brian,,, Good tip. Juan
thanks Juan, good to hear from you
Great video. Perfect length, showed a DIY process as well. who is your source for Spicer axle shafts? Are you using old stock? The only thing I find online is Crown.
Thank you for the great info and tip Brian! Is it necessary to readjust the steering stop screw, so the bolts heads don't hit against the axle housing knuckle? I know too long a bolt will mangle it up, but these seem real small as to not cause trouble.
These bolts that I installed will never hit anything, the spindle, brake backing plate and brake drum will all be covering these bolts and they won't hit anything.
Nice video as always Brian. Just have a few questions about this process. I will be using a mill/drill method. What are your pilot and counterbore specs? 5/16" pilot & 21/32" bore? Do you retap the knuckle after? Finally, your button socket caps - what are the specs there that you typically use? Thanks - project for this spring :)
Can I upgrade my dana25 front steering Knuckle on my 1944 ford GPW with the heavier duty Dana 25 steering knuckle from a Willys Cj3B I believe it is a 1946 ?
Nice upgrade! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
works great, have never had a failure since my first upgrade in 1998
Metalshaper, I just recently did the knuckle stud upgrade on my dana27af front axle on my 1971 cj5. When it came time to set the preload on the kingpin bearings. The passenger side I got 16 lbs pull, on the drivers side I got 16 with no shims. After putting the seal in and the felt then the 2 piece metal covers on and tightened it was hard to move the knucles. They seem to be really tight, is that normal?
yes the knuckle will be very tight when the seal goes on. Perfectly normal ,nothing to worry about.
No need to rethreading?
Will this work on a 66 international scout?
yes
Solid
a bullet proof upgrade.
I have learned something
Thank you for the video Brian, I am just fitting my knuckles on the jeep now, so the information came in handy. One question, I set up the preload on the kingpin bearings as per your video at 16ft.lbf pull force. After fitting the rear gasket and felt seal assembly I noticed that quite some force is required now to move the knuckle. I did see that the rubber that fits ontop of the steel plate is bigger than the plate, so I imagine that the rubber is pinching against the ball area that goes into the knuckle. How much force would you expect it to be to be able to move the knuckle once the seals are in and the joint is all greased up?
after the knuckle seal goes on it can be very hard to move by hand, that is why we set the bearing preload with the bare knuckle. Until you get lube in there and the knuckle moves a bit it can be very hard to move by hand. If you set the preload correct don't worry about anything, when you turn the steering wheel everything will feel as it should.
@@metalshaperJeep thank you very much Brian!!
💪🏼💪🏼👍 👍