D27 Knuckle Stud Project
In case anyone wants to know why closed knuckle axles aren't used much anymore...here is a rebuild thread for my D27 front axle that I broke the knuckle off of - well really, it stripped out the mounting bolts that hold the wheel hub and spindle to the knuckle, and thus keeps the axle shaft in the axle housing. Anyway, I am not just doing a straight repair of this, but hopefully an upgrade that will not something similar again....Instead of the bolts that hold it all together going from the outside-in, and threading into holes in the cast iron knuckle (those are the weak spot), the new set-up with bolt from the inside out, and will be nutted off on the the outside. Using appropriate grade hardware, this should be much stronger than relying on weak cast iron threads that are even weaker after 50+ years of corrosion and wear. But, bolting from the 'inside-out' is not trivial due to clearance issues of the knuckle spheres and axle u-joint...so use of button head bolts and removal of the knuckle to aid in a bit of grinding in select spots should do the trick....hopefully....
Example here is from the passenger side (this side did not break - yet...) - first thing is to remove the knuckle....as the FSM says: requires removal of the hub and brake drum assembly, wheel bearings, axle shaft, spindle, steering tie rod, and steering knuckle.
After removal of the wheel hub (and locking hub/drive flange etc), the heads of the 6 bolts to be replaced can be seen holding the brake backing plate on....
FWIW, I have 11" bendix brakes here, but its the same for OEM 10" or 9" etc. Removal of these bolts allows removal of the backing plate and then the spindle:
With the spindle removed, the outer surface of the knuckle is exposed....the bolts thread into the knuckle, and its these threads that are weak and can fail.
To remove the knuckle, a bit more work is needed...the axle shaft can be pulled out and set aside:
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James Orofino
1970 CJ5
1958 Willys Wagon