Correct Steering knuckle for 83 3/4ton 10 blt front end

[80 Chevy K20 4x4]

First off,

It's good to be back in my old 87 Silverado K20 pickup and back here at ColoradoK5. I had traded the 87 a little over a year ago to a good friend of mine for his 92 Toyota Extended cab SR5 V6 4x4 pickup. After doing much work to the Toyota, it was only getting 13-14 mpg on the highway. I've had 4 left knee surgeries before that, that has left me with 25% permanent partial disability in my left knee. Anyway, I've been trying to archery hunt just walking around in the fields on my family's property looking for a good buck. After just walking around on uneven ground, my knee aches so much that I wasn't sure if I was going to able to push in the clutch on the Toyota. So I asked my friend if he'd be interested in trading back so I could get back into my old 87 Chevy with a HP 700r4 that my brother and I rebuilt before I traded the truck to him. He said sure, so now I'm back into my old Chevy and it only cost me about 2 mpg difference in fuel economy anyway.

Here's my dilemma;

The friend I bought the 87 Chevy from, had converted the truck to a 3/4 ton from a 1/2 ton, with front and rearends from a factory 83 Chevy 3/4 ton diesel pickup. The passenger side knuckle has way more distance between the upper ball joint to the backing plate when compared to the driver's side. This causes the passenger front tire and wheel to stick farther out of the wheel well on that side. The driver's side looks correct. Here are a couple pics to show you the difference.

I'm looking for the correct passenger side knuckle to bring the tire and wheel in closer like the driver's side is. Does anyone have one in good condtion? Let me know. My username on the forum used to be 89Silveradok5.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[1979jimmy350]

are you sure the difference is not the rims backspacing? I have never heard of differnt knuckles

 

[4X4HIGH]

The only difference in knuckles are tie rod coming in from the bottom versus coming in from the top. Everything else about the knuckles is all the same. I would have to agree about the wheel back spacing as a probable issue.

You might have a bent knuckle though also.

 

[80 Chevy K20 4x4]

The rims are all the same. The wheels are Weld Racing wheels. I can mount any of the tires and wheels onto the right front, and it's still the same. If you'll notice the space diffence between the upper ball joint and the backing plate on the passenger side and then compare it to the drivers side, you'll notice that the drivers side has a shorter gap between the upper ball joint and the backing plate on that side. I'm assuming that someone might have used the wrong year of knuckle on the passenger side. I just don't know if it's supposed to be that way? What other parts could cause it to stick out too far? Incorrect spindle, hub, etc?

 

[1979jimmy350]

maby you have bad balljoints casuing that or maby there is a offset balljoint installed whne a alignment was done to correct caster or camber

 

[kennyw]

I'm not sure what is causing your problem... but you may want to tear it down to the knuckles and start comparing parts side to side. There were differences in the spindles and a few other parts between the older Dana 44's and newer 10 bolts but it typically would be noticeable with different style lockouts.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Actually i think it might be an optical illusion since the driverside knuckle has the steering arm on it and it is a little harder to see any difference with the arm attached. Judging from the pics they both appear to be exactly the same distance from the wheel.

 

[kennyw]

Looking closer at the pics you may want to check the drivers side ball joints... jack up the truck and rock the tire up and down and check for play.

 

[thatK30guy]

If you're looking at the gap between the steering arm and the caliper backing plate, its just optical illusion.

The reason for that smaller gap on the driver side is simply because of the wide seat for the steering arm. Look how wide that surface area is and then look at the passenger side to compare. There is no seating area on the passenger side. Hence the reason it looks different.

 

[80 Chevy K20 4x4]

Well my brother and I took the front wheels and tires off and looked at them. Two of the wheels are just a little bit different for the back spacing, but it's only a 1/4" different. We swapped the front tires around, but it only made a 1/4" difference in width. I'll take a couple pics of the front tires to show everyone just how much the passenger side sticks out compared to the drivers side. I checked the parts from the rotor out and they seem to be the same. I was wondering if the passenger side is supposed to be the same parts as the driver's side for the spindle, hub, rotor, etc. I know the knuckle is different obviously, but I didn't know for sure about the rest, although I think they are.

Did the 1 ton duallys have a different spindle, or knuckle that stuck out just a little bit farther than the others? Also, I crawled underneath to look at the frame and it looks great. I don't see anything wrong with the frame or the frame horns. Give me some ideas to check out.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[thatK30guy]

1 ton spindles and knuckles are not the same as 1/2 or 3/4 ton. They are much bigger and in a class of their own.

I'd still say you're "nuts" thinking theres something wrong with the above listed parts on your truck to make a wider/narrower stance.

 

[kennyw]

1 ton parts won't fit on your 3/4 ton axle. Best thing to do is compare parts side to side as you tear it down to see if you actually have a difference. Everything except for the knuckle itself and inner axleshafts are the same side to side.

 

[MTBLAZER89]

Actually i think it might be an optical illusion since the driverside knuckle has the steering arm on it and it is a little harder to see any difference with the arm attached. Judging from the pics they both appear to be exactly the same distance from the wheel.

Yeah

 

[MTBLAZER89]

Actually i think it might be an optical illusion since the driverside knuckle has the steering arm on it and it is a little harder to see any difference with the arm attached. Judging from the pics they both appear to be exactly the same distance from the wheel.

Yeah what he said It's the steering arm causing the illusion. I'll try and get a pic of my driver side tomorrow with no steering arm on it, and it looks just like your pass side.