Rockwells make your sac swell!

patooyee · Feb 25, 2015

Eddyj said:
So we need seals in the axle tube and behind spindle along with the sealed ujoint?
I'm sorry if I sound a little ignorant, it's just hard to wrap my head around that nobody has experimented with this. It seems one of the bigger drawbacks of running rocks is turning radius.
I'm fixing to tear my axles down, I just thought that there might be some upgrades I could do while I had them apart.

A steering axle already has seals in the tubes. And from my understanding all the modern u-joints these days are sealed. So that just leaves the spindle and the kingpins that remain unsealed if you leave the boot off.

People have experimented with it. Ouverson has machined the spindles to fit a seal but I believe it left them too thin for comfort. I could be mistaken there since I'm not part of the Ouverson R&D department.

I think its one of those things where doing it right ends up requiring custom spindles and knuckles which then is out of the price range of most potential customers.

patooyee · Feb 25, 2015

I would worry about a stock knuckle that had been cut to allow tighter turning anyway. They're not as thick as typical open knuckles because they don't have to be. They have 360* of structural integrity whereas an open knuckle only has 180*. So if you cut a stock knuckle to look like an open knuckle you end up with an open knuckle that is 1/3 the thickness of a d44 knuckle.

paradisepwoffrd · Feb 25, 2015

patooyee said:
I would worry about a stock knuckle that had been cut to allow tighter turning anyway. They're not as thick as typical open knuckles because they don't have to be. They have 360* of structural integrity whereas an open knuckle only has 180*. So if you cut a stock knuckle to look like an open knuckle you end up with an open knuckle that is 1/3 the thickness of a d44 knuckle.

Also, you would need to eliminate the stock steering arm or cut it away some.

I experimented with building a high steer arm and knuckle plating solution, but the quotes I recieved to machine them eliminated any chance to sell them. Basically it was a high steer arm that eliminated the upper kingpin cap and tied the spindle bolt flange and lower kingpin cap in also. Side plates could also have been integrated to fully plate the knuckle.

I also have some ideas around sealing the kingpins and spindles, but havent had any rockwells around to tear down in a few years.

Rohlingoffroad · Feb 25, 2015

Rockwells607 · Feb 25, 2015

I have 16spline ouversons and left the knuckle stops stock, you guys are sayin I can turn them in a little more and gain a little more steering radius? How much would be acceptable over all? I think stock is 8" movement on tie tod, I have a 10" ram so I have room to grow

patooyee · Feb 25, 2015

Rockwells607 said:
I have 16spline ouversons and left the knuckle stops stock, you guys are sayin I can turn them in a little more and gain a little more steering radius? How much would be acceptable over all? I think stock is 8" movement on tie tod, I have a 10" ram so I have room to grow

I get a full 9" of stroke with mine. (I have Ouverson 16-spline in the front, 47 in the rear.) The back side of the knuckle touches the axle tubes. I don't use the stock steering stops. I limit my 10" DE ram using DOM welded to the clevises int he front. I use an 8" ram on a custom shorter-than-stock steering arm in the rear to max the knuckles out there.

Rohlingoffroad · Feb 25, 2015

Chop FAB builds these for anyone building a custom rockwell outer axle also

Rockwells607 · Feb 25, 2015

Ok I'm gonna change mine to 9" too I bet that one extra inch helps a good bit

patooyee · Feb 25, 2015

I had no idea so many companies were making knuckles.

Eddyj · Feb 25, 2015

And you call yourself the Rockwell grand wizard. :wtflol:

Craig_c · Feb 25, 2015

Redneck lights check your pm's

toreadorranger · Feb 25, 2015

The gearharts look to be a killer deal compared to some of the rest. They also look like a solid design.

patooyee · Feb 27, 2015

Here's the Gearheart product page with some better pics:

http://www.gearheartsgarage.com/apps/webstore/products/show/5258785

Is that the same as Gearheart Engineering? It seems odd that I don't see any of Gearheart's shafts on that site.

toreadorranger · Feb 27, 2015

I saw the knuckles on his Facebook page so I think he might have two websites.

patooyee · Feb 27, 2015

I just noticed its spelled different on both sites. It's GearHEART's Garage and GearHART Engineering. I guess they are different, you would think they would get the name right if they were the same?