I noticed that the driver's side knuckle bolt hole where the heim bolt goes through there's a small amount of ovaling in that hole, causing the heim joint bolt to slightly wobble. Once cranked down to a couple ugga-duggas there's no movement that I can see at least but who knows at speed?!? Just not sure if this would even matter with the slight movement that the heim joint has naturally. There's already a 5/8 on there, not sure if they make a heim kit that would accept a larger 9/16 or 1/2 bolt? Or maybe still it open and press a sleeve that'll accept the 5/8 bolt nice and tight again?

Just so you guys know, I can pretty much fix anything mechanical but I have no clue about these Cherokee and suspensions in general so I've learned a lot the last few days!!

I'm a retired industrial mechanic by trade, I was forced to retire very young. My body tried to die... Twice.. But I lived 😂. I just can't really work anymore. Bosses don't seem to like paying a guy that after 6 hours of work needs the next 3 days off to recover 😂😂. I was trained and certified as a Brunswick pinsetter mechanic. So if you ever go bowling I'm one off the guys that rebuild those machines. They haven't really made any new ones in the states since the 70's and they have more parts per machine than even the most complicated car... Like thousands more parts, nuts bolts etc.. The service manual is 16 inches thick 😂😂

 

Forced early retirement isn't fun due to medical, but at the same time you get to spend time where you want and be with the family....held hostage on the beach lololol. I can see the good and bad sides to it, but at least you get to spend time with the kid/kids and that's most important.


It's pretty easy to tell you're not an idiot and just were overwhelmed where to start. Though a hummer fan has me suspect now.....i surely hope it's an h1 or h3 variant....but I digress 🙃. Once you learn the key points in the jeep front ends it's super easy to diagnose.

it looks like you're dealing with an overall lack of maintenance from the previous owner and it shows. All the suspension bits are easy, it's basically replace everything that's lose beyond normal tolerances and tweak geometry to find what your rig likes best.

THE KNUCKLE- I'm not yelling but the steering is where the joking stops. Is the bolt drilled off center, at an angle or anything? I used a 5/8 bridge reamer when I did mine to prevent creating an oblong hole. If the bolt became loose and wallowed out the knuckle, you might have to replace that knuckle and i would be suspect of the others as well. If it's not bad like you said, they make knuckle inserts where you drill the hole to 7/8 and drop in and weld a tapered insert. But.....this would require you to change the steering system to something similar to the JCR, or Rough Country style. I wouldn't jump to that conclusion yet, but it's an option. The knuckles are soft and deform easily. The best way to positively identify if this will be an issue is pretty simple. Once that track bar is repaired, install it and have someone start the jeep and move the steering side to side with a quick sawing motion. The jeep will impart far more force into the steering than you can by hand and if there's any play at that bolt, you'll easily see it. If thats the case, there's options to remedy it. I believe the 2 bolts at the wheels get cranked to 125lb ft iirc and the pitman arm gets 100. I'd have to check the instructions again, but they get some sauce put on them when tightening. If they check out with the test, and it's a non factor, lots of thread locker and ugga duggas. Again, steering is one thing not to fool with. I find the blue lock tite gel creates a hard paste that's a ***** to thread off once hardened, but it is removable without heat, it just requires a big bar and patience since my impact won't turn it.

The nice thing is, if the knuckle is torally wiped out you can find D30 stuff for comically cheap, so it's not world ending. It's just something that again, is a pain and reflects negligence on the previous owner.

 

My 2 cents on the knuckle. As Hodge says, the metal is soft, but strong. One reason I don't like heim joint aftermarket steering is that they usually don't have a good design. Yes they work, but as you are finding when you go from a 7° taper on the tie rod end to a straight bolt there is room for a little movement and you can get what is happening to you. Personally, I think getting the replacement knuckle from a wrecking yard is the way to go on this. But when you get to drilling the taper out, use a drill press. What may have happened in the first place is that the previous owner used a hand drill, got it bound a time or two and ended up with a hole that wasn't really round in the first place

 

The cheap steering kits use small heims.

7/8 heim can accept 9/16-7/8" bolt.




https://www.barnes4wd.com/Heavy-Duty-Steering-Kit-with-78-Heims_p_325.html

 

So if I buy a heim joint that accepts a 3/4 bolt I'll still need to find those cone shaped misalignment inserts or whatever they are called I guess. It probably would be easier to just buy new knuckles at this point 🤷‍♂️

I'll take a video when I get outside to show how much play there is in the bolt where it goes through the knuckle

 

Here's a parts list if you jump to a 3/4 bolt on the drivers side.

Heim- https://www.barnes4wd.com/Heat-Treat...m-_p_1166.html

jam nut- https://www.barnes4wd.com/34--16-Jam...ead_p_117.html

safety washer- https://www.barnes4wd.com/34-Safety-Washer_p_155.html

use the safety washer between the bolt head and the heim then just a standard gr-8 between heim and knuckle/knuckle and nut. Trail forged should have sent these with the kit, they are nice for where a bolt head sits directly against the heim socket.

If the passenger side is sloppy as well, you do the same combo as above, but add these https://www.barnes4wd.com/34-ID-Misa...idth_p_36.html

I believe they use the 2" width option to get the ample space between the drag link and tie rod. Just measure the width of the spacers out- out dimension on the passenger side stack and it'll be 1 5/8 or 2" but I'm pretty sure it's 2".

 

I took this video real quick of the bolt play. Not sure if this is bad or acceptable

 

Video won't work

 

That's awesome... I'll order them tonight. Thank you! I think my plan is to upgrade to 3/4" for now being that the ball joints are still good. I'm going to also order new knuckles as I already have ball joints being shipped. Once I get everything put back together I'll hopefully be able to test drive it and find no issues at all. Then I will replace the knuckles with the new ball joints as the weather gets a little more bearable.

According to trail forged they tell me to put the bolt then washer, then misalignment washer then heim joint the opposite facing misalignment washer finished by a regular washer, knuckle, washer and finally nut. So I guess I'll just order two of the 3/4" misalignment washers per side.

 

correct- I forgot to add the pitman arm hardware in! 3 heims, 4 misalignment spacers, 3 jam nuts, 1 safety washer. That should be all you need to order. My tractor supply has the exact hardware supplied by trail forged, so I'm sure you can source proper hardware locally for nuts, bolts washers and you'll be back in business!

this will for sure get you by until you get the chance to get the new knuckles in.

 

I highlighted the wrong thing.... The way trail forged says it's that the driver's side knuckle should have the bolt head-washer-misalignment washer-heim-misalignment washer-washer-knuckle-washer-nut. This same setup is on the Pitnam arm as well, that's why I highlighted it. So just for the driver's side tie rod I would need two misalignment washers, three regular washers a nut and bolt. The driver's side knuckle setup has 4 misalignment washers 4 regular washers three bolt and a nut. Basically they are calling for two misalignment washers per heim, one above and one below sandwiching the heim joint. Where you only listed using one misalignment washer per heim.. That's the difference I was talking about... No big deal

 

I uploaded the video to YouTube... Never did that before so don't know if it'll work or not.
Try this link

 

I'll go snap pictures for clarity. And that hole certainly seems not 5/8 any more

 

So ive been on the trail forged site eyeing the steering.

They appear to run a 7/8"x3/4" heim on the steering aswell as 3/4"x3/4" the absolute biggest bolt both these heims will accept with out a misalignment spacer is 3/4"

With spacer im assuming they run 5/8" bolt i dont like that they don't say to me that means they've bought stock in the cheapest heimd they can get. Ruff stuff also does this but they tell you all specs.

I honestly would scrap that steering on vagueness alone for one running 7/8x7/8heims with 3/4" hardware.

Im all for cheap heims and cheap parts but when I have to dig for specs on those cheap parts im out. Makes me feel like something is being hidden.

I've had a couple heims go sloppy within days of install but for the most part get lots of miles on most..

I probably over think stuff but from the limited time on that website it didnt make me want to buy. But those control arm skids look good

if those are 7/8" 7/8" heims you can up to 3/4" if they are 3/4" i don't think you can run a 3/4 bolt because you wouldn't have any misalignment

i drill knuckles with a uni bit..

Has to finish at the size you want to finish at.. if you want a 3/4" hole the largest step on the bit needs to be 3/4"

Confused? I sure as **** am

 

Lolol... I reread these comments like 20 times and it gets less foggy reach time 😂😂

I'm absolutely ordering new heims that take the larger hardware, I think the ones Hodge listed will work for now, I think they will also work with the bars I currently have because until he gets a few more checks in the bank the boys funds are running low. He wanted a project truck for his first car so he needs to learn how to earn the money to fix it.... As much as I would love to buy him everything and fix it today, he needs to learn what It takes to buy the parts just as much as learn how to put the parts on. He's off to a great start though, its a manual swapped truck that started it's life as an auto so it has a computer still looking for auto trans voltage input that it no longer has so it's throwing codes... The new computer has been flashed and got shipped out today. The Moog bushings for the axle side of the upper control arms came in today along with a new ball joint press tool. He should have the money for new upper control arms, new larger heim joints and hardware and a steering stabilizer kit with this week's pay. Hopefully that'll all get him on the road for when he gets his license on the 21st. If all is good he still needs an exhaust from after the cat back and probably new O2 sensors cause it has codes for those as well and then he can save for new adjustable lower control arms and the addiction will grow from there lol.