Dana 44 knuckle rotations

[RdHawg]

Trying to grind off the knuckles on my front dana 44 is is becoming a bit of a pain - complicated by the fact I'm not positive where to grind.
The end goal is to point the pinion up and keep the knuckles at the original angle to the ground.
Does the tube slide into the knuckle or does the knuckle have a boss that goes into the tube?
Does anyone have pics of this job or know of any good links?
(I'll try to post some pics but that requires me learning a whole new skill - Tonight?!)

[justin'sbig7]

you have to grind the weld off of the diff side of the knuckle. then press the C off of the tube, it is just slid over the tube. it will be tight and requires a press for on/off. there was a site i saw 2 yrs ago where a guy did this. i cant for the life of me think of where i saw it tho

[RdHawg]

ok so i got pics - how the heck do I post em? I tried a search then when I clicked on the link i was told "You have requested an item that does not exist"! grrrr
Alright lets try this :
http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Technical/d44_rotate_knuckle_grind1.JPG :
: http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Technical/d44_rotate_knuckle_grind5.JPG:

Sorry about the huge pics (I've no idea how to make them a managable size :confused: )

[ January 29, 2006, 10:05 PM: Message edited by: RdHawg ]

[Lazarus]

there so big I cant even see them...

]

[ January 29, 2006, 08:33 PM: Message edited by: Lazarus ]

[RdHawg]

I GOT IT TO WORK!!!!! YEA!!!! :D :D :D :D

[Stuka]

Wow, long time no see man smile.gif

The knuckle has to be pressed off after the weld is ground away. Another way to do it is to have the whole tube rotated. I know of a shop here whom does this stuff, I am sure there is on in the sac area. It doesnt cost a whole lot, and they guarantee the angle will be right.

[Blake]

I used to have a couple of scouts that I converted to SOA. Scouts have bad caster angles to begin with. I've always ground off the welds, then beat the inner knuckle off with a big sledge hammer. Then re-install the knuckle at the correct angle, beat it back on, then weld. Do lot's of searchin before doing this as it's a LOT of work, but worth it if done right.

[scotty]

we as jeep guys are lucky to not have to mess with caster and knuckle grinding very often.

as mentioned scouts come with 0* caster and drive crappy,right from the factory. scout guys will do a "cut and turn" without changing pinion angle,lift,or any other mods,just to get them to drive right ;)

a search for "caster" or "castor" on the binder bulletin turns up alot of info.

this one has a step by step "how to remove steering yokes" with pics. hope it answers any questions that you may still have after reading this thread. smile.gif

http://www.binderbulletin.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47710&highlight=castor

[RdHawg]

THANK YOU! The 5000 word pic in that post was what I was really looking for. I think I've ground way too deep and not enough of the knuckle. When I get home tonight maybe I'll have better luck.
Stuka - I finally get this thing together with my 5:13s :D : we need to go up to the niagra rim together. Whatcha think? Bet I could get my wife to video us.

[Stuka]

I am all for it, I just gota wait for my cherokes new front bumper, and I will be ready to rock smile.gif

[bigun]

Try here it is a dana 60, but the problems are the same
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=437649

[HotRodYJ]

You've already found your answer, but yeah you've ground down into the tube which is not what you want to do. The inner C slides over the tube so you gouge the weld horizontally not vertically as you've done. I also used a 5 lb sledge to persuade the C off then knock it back on. Works fine. A little heat would make it easier, but a sledge works just fine. It is alot of work, but not all that bad. I would do it again if I needed to. Did this one for a friend's Heep to get his low pinion diff up out of the dirt and fix d-shaft angles. Worked like a charm.