Aftermarket D60 Knuckles?

[MRJ]

OK, give me your opinion on what aftermarket kingpin knuckle you would run.

The ones I can think of are: Solid MFG., Crane, Dedenbear (now known as Reid).

Lets here your pros and cons on them.

My application would be a HP all aftermarket 60 for my TJ. So we would be looking at 4.88 gears and an ARB in the front, running hydro assist.

 

[Caleb]

My opinion is run the Dedenbear knuckles. Crane may arguably be slightly stronger but you pay out the arse for them. I've never heard of Solid Mfg. I'll have to look them up and see what they offer. You could also go with an all fabricated knuckle from the guy on PBB, super beefy but super $$$. Not knowing what Solid Mfg. offers I'd undoubtedly suggest the Dedenbear.

 

[MRJ]

Solid is the old Rockcrusher. Or a breakaway company that is very similar to them.

I am kind of leaning towards Dedenbear.

 

[Meat_]

I've never been around any of them but if I ever went away from stock GM junk I would use Dedenbear knuckles and thier 70 c's

 

[Kiel]

I like the idea of the keyed knuckles and hysteer arms like solid's. If not then I would do the dedenbear also

 

[rkillpack]

I trust Dedenbear

I use the dedenbear knuckles on a Suburban and have never had a hint of problems, after I installed them. While installing them I had a high steer stud break off. I simply had the holes enlarged and ran bigger everything. The Suburban around 11000 pounds and has even backed up assorted ledges, that at times have been the length of the Suburban or more, and not had any hiccupps. I trust them so far and am looking into using them in a rear steer application for the same suburban.

 

[Caleb]

I like the idea of the keyed knuckles and hysteer arms like solid's. If not then I would do the dedenbear also

they keyed design was actually a Crane design originally. While it is a good idea, I can't say that I've ever heard of that really being a problem area. I think I've seen maybe one or two that have sheared the steering bolts off but there was usually other factors that played into it.

 

[Bart]

I ran Crane on my last buggy and had ZERO problems. That was with double beadlocks, 40" Maxxis tires, and 180 lbs of steel shot in each tire. They are strong. I would go Crane again.

 

[Kiel]

they keyed design was actually a Crane design originally. While it is a good idea, I can't say that I've ever heard of that really being a problem area. I think I've seen maybe one or two that have sheared the steering bolts off but there was usually other factors that played into it.

What was the dealy with shawns rig, IIRC he could use some of those

 

[I Lean]

I'd say Dedenbear if you actually want to get them. Crane's are sweet but you'll wait months for them if you EVER get them, and I don't know anything about Solid, so I can't/won't comment on them.

 

[Tacoma]

I"m going to go with Solids I think, 6-bolt steering arms, woo hoo. If not, then Dedenbears. I agree with Carly Simon here: Crane's are sweeeeeeet, but I keep hearing they're out of business, or not, or they aren't shipping anything, or they are, blah blah.

 

[Shawn]

hummmmmm.... If I had what you have,,, I would make my own....

 

[timpanogos]

I ...180 lbs of steel shot in each tire.

 

[Ben Holloway]

is yukon still making the 6 stud knuckles? I know they were development a while back

Ben

 

[Kiel]

is yukon still making the 6 stud knuckles? I know they were development a while back

Ben

I think they released some, but they went back to development

 

[MRJ]

OK new question.

Why would I need to run a king pin style over a ball joint 60?

Having just checked into some pricing, I can get the Tera ball joint knuckles for a very reasonable amount.

I also can get the Solid ones for dealer pricing, although it is not quite as attractive as the other route.

I spoke with John from Mt Logan yesterday, and he stated that they have had great luck with ball joints. Nate replaces his once a year on the K2. I have seen him drive that thing and my TJ will not get the same kind of treatment (no 40" tires and not so much skinny pedal).

 

[I Lean]

Kingpin is arguably stronger (I'm not totally convinced of that though), but the steering options are easier since the arms can just bolt on the top.

Balljoint knuckles are a bit smaller and so take up less room you might need for coil/shock/control arm mounting, but there aren't as many easy steering options. Aftermarket balljoint knuckles might have taken care of that problem, but even if not you have resources available to you to make what you need.

 

[Tacoma]

I'm convinced that kingpins are better. Ball joints are cheaper to manufacture and introduce more places for slop to develop, which in turn generates more slop-- kind of a self-destructing joint. If I remember, kingpins are cheaper to overhaul? It's like $100 a side for everything you need: upper AND lower kingpins and all the bearings/seals??? and no press needed!

But do you need them? I don't know. Balljoints are probably just fine, and it's The New Way. Definitely a lot more steering options. And I just like the idea of those big chunks of metal in there, instead of balljoints.

 

[waynehartwig]

With 35's, I had to replace my D30 (TJ, XJ, Rubicon, etc. use D30 BJ's) BJ's about every 6-12 months, same with the uni bearing. I wasn't hard on it, but I wasn't afraid to use it either. ..And yes, I did conduct normal PM's on everything...

I'm in the process of switching out to KP's, I'm hoping that with the same maintanence I'll get a lot longer life out of them.

 

[mbryson]

With 35's, I had to replace my D30 (TJ, XJ, Rubicon, etc. use D30 BJ's) BJ's about every 6-12 months, same with the uni bearing. I wasn't hard on it, but I wasn't afraid to use it either. ..And yes, I did conduct normal PM's on everything...

I'm in the process of switching out to KP's, I'm hoping that with the same maintanence I'll get a lot longer life out of them.

Hmmmm........ Strange. I didn't have any issues with ball joints or unit bearings on my trail prepped XJ. I had a fair amount of cargo for 'emergencies', so it wasn't running around 'light'. I busted ball joints when I broke an axle once. It saw about 16-20K street miles a year.