Steering Knuckle for ORD Crossover Steering Kit

[bigredk5blazer]

I am in the process of fully outfitting my 1987 K5. I purchased ORD's kit for crossover steering. I am keeping my Corporate 10-bolt front axel for now, and know that I need a right side outer knuckle from a Dana 44 to make the swap work. A friend of mine runs a local 4x4 shop, and had an old Dana 44 from a Crysler of some variety behind his shop. Yesterday I pulled the knuckle off of it and was planning to use it for my crossover setup. The problem is that it doesn't look like the picture on the ORD website. I want to know if it will work, before I dump money into it by having it machined. I got it for free, so if it doesn't work it's no loss at this point. It had the casting number RC37896 stamped into the arm on the knuckle. I couldn't seem to attach a pic to this post. I've got one, so if someone can guide me through it I will gladly post one.

 

[4X4HIGH]

First off welcome aboard. Its good to see a new member who is orange. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Now fill out your profile so that people can help you quicker by not having to ask you questions about the year and model of your rig or what you're running.

AFAIK, you just need to make sure that the tie rod comes in from the same direction as your 10 bolt.

IE: from the top or bottom.

 

[MTBLAZER89]

If ya can get both knuckles because flat tops have top entry tie-rods most 10 bolts if not all have bottom entry so you'll need both. It should have a large flat area like
these
oe these...these are not milled or tapped...what they should look like on the axle.

Post up a picture if ya can to verify first. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[Stephen]

Some dodges will work, you need to check the spindle bolt pattern, the tie rod arms taper and direction and height, and the brake mounting. Some of the dodge knuckles use a bolt on caliper mount instead of the GM style that goes over the spindle bolts. I think the bosses for the dodge system could be ground off if you needed to do that.
Watch the bolt pattern rotation, some of the drum brake knuckles have a different rotation on the bolt pattern and it will cause the brake caliper to hit the steering arm.

 

[bigredk5blazer]

The knuckle I have doesn't look like the one in that picture, so I'm thinking it won't work. The axel I took it from had an outer axel bearing pressed on the shaft that rode in a cavity inside the knuckle. To unbolt the spindle I had to remove the bolts through a hole in the rotor. The caliper mounting looks close, but the center of the knuckle where the axelshaft passes through has a bore for the bearing and a pilot that sticks past the surface where the bolts install. I would post a pic, but I don't know how to do it on this site. Can someone walk me through it, or tell me where on the site I might find the instructions?

Anyway, what years/models should I look at to get the right knuckle? Am I safer using a Chevy or Ford knuckle as opposed to a Dodge?

 

[4X4HIGH]

You have just described a fulltime 4x4 Dodge front axle.

 

[Stephen]

'76 and older GM are the best, you sometimes find the same casting on the full size jeeps also. A ford won't work, the spindle pattern is different.

 

[bigredk5blazer]

That would make sense. My friend has owned and cut up several Ramchargers over the years, which had full time NP203 t-cases in them.

I will look for a pre '76 GM front in a junkyard around here. Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how it turns out.