King pin shims

On a Dana 27 steering knuckle, what are they used for exactly? Haynes repair manual says to go to a dealer when working on this item.

 

What is the procedure on preload? I bought shim kits and new bearings.

 

Best thing you can do is take the Haynes manual and throw it into the garbage. Then buy a re-print of the factory service manual (FSM). Worth it's weight in gold and has all this type of info. I'd also do a search as this has been covered quite a bit. At the top is a search tab and also a technical library tab. These are great resources for just these type of questions.
By the way, Welcome! Nickmil

 

Mcruff and I rebuilt my front axle about 2 months ago and I ordered my shims from the vintage 4wd catalog. I ordered 4 shim packs and that was way too many. If you need a set send me a PM and I will send you some of my extras.

I may leave something out, but you need a cheap fish scale.You add or remove shims until it takes about 15lbs(I think, someone else can chime in the correct pound) of pull to move your steering knuckle. The shims only go on the top. Good Luck

 

also torque the bottom king pin to 35 ft-lb i think...

and put the shims at the top of the knuckle to set pre-load

 

Check this page out. It has a pretty good description on rebuilding the whole steering knuckle.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/steering_knuckle_repair.htm

 

Thanks everyone. As for the knuckle lube, I read a blog by an Aussie who had repaired an old Range Rover. He said he used STP instead of making lube with 140 and grease. Anybody ever heard of this?

 

Put that in the 'can of worms' category along with flat towing.

Lots of recipes for knuckles ... thick oil, "pudding" of grease and oil, plain oil and rubber seals, etc etc. Many, many opinions.

STP does have a lot of additives that might be good for the axle bearings. I have used it for assembly lube with good results.

You want something that doesn't leak, but isn't so thick that it starves the axle bearings. I would guess that lots of things will work, and leakage depends on the type and condition of the seals and the condition of the knuckle surface.

Are you replacing the seals? If so, which seals are you using?

 

Brand new seals and felt from Omix.

 

Yea I heard of this, I think its called Knuckle butter/pudding. There have been a few postings on the forums about it. Just finished my front axle. I just replaced kingpin bearings, axle bearings, oil seals and steering knuckle seals from Omix as well on mine. Next time they fail Ill just get a different model to throw under it...

 

Hey - I missed it. Someone else from K-town on the board. I work in K-town, and live just across the county line in greater Andersonville/Norris metroplex.

I replaced my kingpin bearings and shims last winter. The FSM has good directions. If you PM me I can send you a PDF of the pages you will need. My problem was finding a scale to use to set the preload.

I also replaced the seals felt and retainers last year. Running 140wt. No problems and my knuckles are the only thing on the JEEP that does not leak.

 

That's what I wound up doing. But, it wasn't so cheap. All they has left when I was there were the high speed digital ones.

 

Not sure how STP would be. I wonder if the top kingpin bearing might starve.