Front Steering Knuckle: Service and Repair

STEERING KNUCKLE

REMOVAL
1. Raise vehicle.
2. Remove front tire and wheel assembly from hub.

CAUTION: Wheel bearing damage will result if hub nut is loosened, then vehicle is rolled on the ground or the weight of the vehicle is allowed to be supported by the tires.

3. Loosen hub nut with brakes applied. The hub and driveshaft are splined together through the knuckle (bearing) and retained by the hub nut.
4. Remove disc brake caliper, adapter, shoes and rotor from steering knuckle.





5. Remove nut attaching outer tie rod to steering knuckle (Fig. 6). Remove nut from tie rod by holding tie rod stud with a socket while loosening- and removing nut with wrench (Fig. 6).
6. Remove the tie rod end from the steering knuckle using Remover, Special Tool C-3894-A.





7. Remove ABS wheel speed sensor cable routing bracket from steering knuckle (Fig. 7).





8. Remove cotter pin and castle nut from lower ball joint stud (Fig. 8).

CAUTION: No tool is to be inserted between the steering knuckle and the lower ball joint to separate stud of lower ball joint from the steering knuckle. The steering knuckle is to be separated from the stud of the ball joint only using the procedure as described in Step 9.

CAUTION: When striking the steering knuckle, do not hit the heat shield covering the ball joint grease seal. Bending the heat shield against the ball joint grease seal will cause the grease seal to fail.





9. Turn steering knuckle so front of it is facing as far outboard in wheel well as possible. Using a hammer, strike boss on steering knuckle (Fig. 9) until steering knuckle separates from lower ball joint stud.

CAUTION: Care must be taken not to separate the inner CN joint during these steps. Pulling steering knuckle out from vehicle after releasing from ball joint can separate inner CN joint, thus damaging it. Do not allow driveshaft to hang by inner CN joint; driveshaft must be supported upon removal from knuckle.

10. Lift up on steering knuckle separating it from lower ball joint stud. Use caution when separating ball joint stud from steering knuckle so ball joint seal does not get cut.





11. Separate steering knuckle from outer C/V joint. Separate steering knuckle from outer C/V joint holding driveshaft in place while pulling steering knuckle away from outer C/V joint (Fig. 10).
12. Remove nut from upper ball joint stud.





13. Remove upper ball joint stud from steering knuckle using Puller, Special Tool, C-3894-A (Fig. 11).
14. Remove steering knuckle from vehicle.
15. If necessary, remove lower ball joint grease seal heat shield on steering knuckle.
16. If steering knuckle is being replaced and hub and bearing is found to be in usable condition, it can be transferred to replacement steering knuckle. To remove the hub and bearing, Refer to Hub / Service and Repair.

INSTALLATION
1. If required, install hub/bearing assembly into steering knuckle before installing steering knuckle on vehicle.
2. If removed, install lower ball joint grease seal heat shield on steering knuckle.
3. Slide driveshaft into front hub/bearing assembly as steering knuckle is installed onto lower ball joint stud.
4. Install lower ball joint castle nut. Do not tighten at this time.
5. Install upper ball joint in steering knuckle. Install upper ball joint nut. Tighten upper ball joint nut to 88 Nm (65 ft. lbs.) torque.
6. Using a crowfoot and torque wrench, tighten the lower ball joint nut 75 Nm (55 ft. lbs.) torque (Fig. 8). Install cotter pin.
7. Install wheel speed sensor cable routing bracket on steering knuckle (Fig. 7) and securely tighten attaching bolt.





CAUTION: When installing tie rod on steering knuckle, the heat shield (Fig. 12) must be installed. If heat shield is not installed, tie rod seal boot can fail due to excessive heat from brake rotor.

8. Install outer tie rod stud into steering knuckle. Start outer tie rod attaching nut onto tie rod stud. While holding stud of tie rod stationary, tighten nut using a crowfoot and socket to 55 Nm (40 ft. lbs.) try (Fig. 12)
9. Install brake rotor, and caliper, shoes and adapter assembly.
10. Clean all foreign matter from threads of outer C/V joint stub axle. Install hub nut onto driveshaft stub axle. With vehicle brakes applied to keep braking disc from turning, tighten hub nut to 203 Nm (150 ft. lbs.) torque.
11. Install front wheel and tire assembly. Install front wheel lug nuts and progressively tighten in crisscross sequence to 135 Nm (100 ft. lbs.) torque.
12. Lower vehicle.
13. Set front toe on vehicle to required specification.