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'91 K5 Four Wheel Camper

This is the build for my 1991 V1500 Blazer, AKA the K5.3. It started out life being sold to the U.S. Government with a 350 TBI/700r4/241 combo. 4 years with a 5.3/700r4 Combo and now moving to an 8.1L Vortec and NV4500 5-speed.
Overview Gallery Discussion
I've ended up with a flat top knuckle anyway. It really didn't matter either way for me, but it is what turned up.
Flatty

Flatty


So I brought it home for a quicky wire brush and Rustoleum rattle can restore. Needs a little more paint, but I ran out of daylight.
Fogged

Fogged


I'll take them both to work and swap out the ball joints. The zerk on the upper was just to let me add grease before the shaft went in. I've got the plugs that came with it to put in for final assembly.
New/old

New/old


As long as the new to me knuckle is ok I'll be reassembling tomorrow.
 
kennyw said:
Pay attention to the direction of the tie rod. Flat tops run the opposite direction of non-flat tops (up vs down).
Click to expand...
The one I'm pulling off to replace had the tie rod going in from the bottom. I'll double check in the daylight though.
 
Hey @Bent77 I think there is a witness mark on the backside of the old knuckle that may be contact with the inner C. Take a look just to the right of the ball joint opening.

Chinga

Chinga


I need to compare to the spot on the C for a similar mark when I get home.

But at least the new to me knuckle is ready for install tonight.
Fresh

Fresh

Fresh

Fresh

 
That’s a nice dinger. Hard to tell unless you knew it wasn’t there before
 
Bent77 said:
That’s a nice dinger. Hard to tell unless you knew it wasn’t there before
Click to expand...

It hasn't been there long. It's bright and shining, no surface rust forming on it. If I have matching spot on the C it was probably recent. Steering stop showed no signs of touching at all though.
 
Problem is I don't know what happened first. Was the ball joint loose that allowed the knuckle to get out of shape to the inner C and cause the problem or was the u-joint failure what stressed the knuckle to be loose at the ball joint and get out of shape?

For all I know that mark on the knuckle could be from the u-joint making its exit and tagged the knuckle on the way out.

Puzzled for sure.
 
ZooMad75 said:
Problem is I don't know what happened first. Was the ball joint loose that allowed the knuckle to get out of shape to the inner C and cause the problem or was the u-joint failure what stressed the knuckle to be loose at the ball joint and get out of shape?

For all I know that mark on the knuckle could be from the u-joint making its exit and tagged the knuckle on the way out.

Puzzled for sure.
Click to expand...
Bent77 said:
Need GoPro “stub shaft” angle
Click to expand...
 
:haha:

I can certainly set that up for this weekend. I'll be in some sand which normally has been the catalyst for 2 out of 3 failures.
 
ZooMad75 said:
Problem is I don't know what happened first. Was the ball joint loose that allowed the knuckle to get out of shape to the inner C and cause the problem or was the u-joint failure what stressed the knuckle to be loose at the ball joint and get out of shape?

For all I know that mark on the knuckle could be from the u-joint making its exit and tagged the knuckle on the way out.

Puzzled for sure.
Click to expand...
I can prove to you both scenarios.
But the point is now they're both fubar so you gotta fix it all with nice parts :pimp:
If I was a betting man I would say ujoints broke and hit the ball joint, you can see the damage on the thread.
That caused the ball joint that was already old to be destroyed and allowed the knuckle to move beyond its range and hit the c
 
Capt Ron said:
The only tools I had with me was a hacksaw and 2 dull blades but I got it off for you.
Man my arms are tired.

View attachment 316328
Click to expand...
But you got the wrong side! :haha:I do appreciate the effort though.

Edit... Looked again and realized it was upside down. Man it's been a long day.
 
imiceman44 said:
I can prove to you both scenarios.
But the point is now they're both fubar so you gotta fix it all with nice parts :pimp:
If I was a betting man I would say ujoints broke and hit the ball joint, you can see the damage on the thread.
That caused the ball joint that was already old to be destroyed and allowed the knuckle to move beyond its range and hit the c
Click to expand...
Upon further inspection of the C there is not one bit of a witness mark where the knuckle could have touched it.

I guess I'm reaching for a solid reason for the failure. All the factors add in as contributing reasons but I don't think any one thing is the smoking gun.

The knuckle and ball joints should take care of one side of the problem. Once I get the chrome moly shafts the other side should be fixed.
 
kennyw said:
Pay attention to the direction of the tie rod. Flat tops run the opposite direction of non-flat tops (up vs down).
Click to expand...

ZooMad75 said:
I've ended up with a flat top knuckle anyway. It really didn't matter either way for me, but it is what turned up.
Click to expand...

ZooMad75 said:
The one I'm pulling off to replace had the tie rod going in from the bottom. I'll double check in the daylight though.
Click to expand...
Me thinks perhaps trouble is brewing in Pueblo.
 
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