Gusset that knuckle?

skipnrocks · Mar 5, 2019

I am prepping for moab and having everything wrapped up weeks before going I am thinking I should gusset my knuckles? Last year I sheared my studs off resulting in a day of wheeling missed and a 300 dollar shop fee watching two guys meander around the shop not sure how to pull a broken stud.

Anyways in an attempt to not break down this year I have thought of gusseting my steering knuckles. Wondering if this is worth my time. Does anyone break them after gusseting?

Do they need to be removed, preheated in an oven or can I just use a torch and heat them up on the rig?

sleepsontoilet · Mar 5, 2019

Pre and post heat to at least 400* and then bury in sand overnight to slow cool. That's what I did when I gusseted my Chevy 60 knuckles with the DIY4X kit years ago.

skipnrocks · Mar 5, 2019

sleepsontoilet said:
Pre and post heat to at least 400* and then bury in sand overnight to slow cool. That's what I did when I gusseted my Chevy 60 knuckles with the DIY4X kit years ago.

I was looking at their kit and debating if it was worth 60 bucks. It seems like with a plasma it wouldnt be too hard to knock out those parts. Plus I wanted to add a 5th stud tab and double shear tab.

If I take this thing apart I dont want to have to do it again. LOL

skipnrocks · Mar 5, 2019

I got the knuckles pulled and cleaned up. I'll cut the gussets in the am and do final weld prep. I was going to leave the studs in to keep weld splatter out. Will it hurt the studs? Seems like their far enough away but didnt want to risk it.

So should I pull them?

mdo817 · Mar 6, 2019

Wrap them in foil and rock on.

skipnrocks · Mar 6, 2019

I got one knuckle done this am. It's in the oven cooling. I decided to diy mainly because of time. I need to have this done this week.

I also opted to add a plate for a 5th stud. And box in the lower part of the knuckle for double sheer.

I'll try and get pics up tomorrow.

The process I followed was preheat 450. Weld up throw back in the oven at 450 for two hours. Then 300 for two hours. Then leave in oven till it cools the rest of the way. Two hours is the max my toaster oven runs for at a time. Lol. Hopefully that allows sufficiently slow cooling time.

skipnrocks · Mar 7, 2019

So I got the first knuckle done. The top plate does not replace the high steer arm it is there to allow a 5th bolt to help with stress on the high steer studs. Fully gusseted with 1/4 in plate.

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skipnrocks · Mar 9, 2019

Here is the final product. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I shouldn't be able to shear those studs again. I don't love the forest green lol but I was out of black so it was that or blue red or pink. Lol. I figured shoot the green on while it was warm so it would stick and then I can put black on over that before I mount my wheels

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cbrjeeper · Mar 10, 2019

I like the green . Reminds me of the jeep forest green.
But anyways. Looks pretty slick. Will definitely hold up better than stock.

Just out of curiosity why not swap to a reid with the 5th hole ? I kno they are $$ .
Hell i sheared 4 of 5 off on my driver reid from a tree attack.

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skipnrocks · Mar 10, 2019

Partially money. Dumped alot of money into it. But secondarily I really wanted to also have a double sheer Sterling and this allowed me to do that pretty easy. If I manage to break on I'll upgrade. But till then I'll rock these. It only took a few hours for the mod. So worth a shot. I had also read a number of threads on it and seen heavier rigs with bigger tires hadn't broken a gussetted knuckle. One guy even gusseted a cracked knuckle to get by and hadnt gotten the crack to spread yet.

cbrjeeper · Mar 10, 2019

Yea ive seen many do overtime with no issues. Good luck on your trip.

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skipnrocks · Mar 10, 2019

cbrjeeper said:
Yea ive seen many do overtime with no issues. Good luck on your trip.

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Thanks. It's our top family trip each year. We love it. We had a lot of Carnage last year so this year tons of prep. We lost an engine from oil pressure. We lost a starter. We sheered a steering bolts. We lost a battery. Lost hydraulics on the trailer and brakes on the trailer.

This year I'm going for no Carnage.

cbrjeeper · Mar 10, 2019

Prep and overkill is better than failure

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jeeppoor · Mar 12, 2019

So what do you do if you don't have a oven to use?

ranger11 · Mar 12, 2019

Grill

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skipnrocks · Mar 12, 2019

jeeppoor said:
So what do you do if you don't have a oven to use?

I have heard of others using their grill. I have a cheap large toaster over that worked slick because it has timers so I could set it for a few hours and leave and let it do its thing.

skipnrocks · Mar 12, 2019

I almost have this all back together now. But it required a little clearance in the brake area. It was pretty easy with a grinder but if I did this again I would probably use slightly lighter material on the brake side.

onepieceatatime · Mar 12, 2019

Do you still have the original brakes that are held in by those old Hblocks? The brackets kind of look old school. I say that because I was super happy when I got rid of that stuff for the Lugnut4x4 upgrade to the newer style chevy calipers.

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skipnrocks · Mar 12, 2019

Yea that's the brakes I have. I'll have to check the upgrade your talking about. I have never had issue with the brakes thought so I'm not sure how motivated I am to switch them. What's the advantage?

skipnrocks · Mar 13, 2019

That looks like a slick kit. If I every loose a caliper or have brake issues I will look to do that. but right now everything works so good with brakes I am not wanting to mess with it.