Steering Knuckle adjustment (1 Viewer)

[Jago]

Hi All, I have super fat tyres on my 1976 FJ40. The rubber washer on the steering knuckle is precariously close to the inner rim of the wheel hub. It just about touches it. I am considering installing 5mm spacers but then I will need to remove the wheel studs and extend them for longer ones. Does anyone have any other good idea or know of a way to adjust the steering knuckles or steering rod to gain 5mm of clearance?

 

[Malleus]

I don't know how common this is across the pond, or even if MOT allows it, but you could have the wheels rewelded to increase the backspacing.

 

[Jago]

I don't know how common this is across the pond, or even if MOT allows it, but you could have the wheels rewelded to increase the backspacing.

Thx for your feedback. Not sure I want to do this either. I’m preferably wanting a safe and standard adjustment before considering narrower wheels/hubs

 

[mattressking]

Rubber washer is not a washer at all...its a tie rod and tie-rod boot. You'll see that the steering arm is bolted to knuckle which the wheel bolts to the hub and all one unit, so the only way to change the distance is a spacer, different wheel offset, narrower tires.

 

[craptabulous]

I had the same issue and corrected it with different steering arms, i went with the front range offroad keyed arms, it went from my tre boot rubbing to having a generous amount of room.

 

[Paul_A]

I'm surprised your wheel weights are not hitting the tie rod end. I used a 1/4 inch aluminum wheel spacer to make clearance, worked great.

 

[plink01]

I'm not sure you wanna hear this but those tires are insanely wide! Is this 40 for going off road or purely for looks??
I don't believe there are any benefits to a tire that wide, only negatives. There is a heap of info online on tire widths and what works best. Military and locals in the Australian outback don't use fat tires. From what I've read and understand they actually provide less grip.

10.5 is probably best for offroad. Those monsters will make it feel somewhat stable off camber. But man they must suck a ton of power and give hell to your wheel bearings.

I just swapped from 33x12.5 back to 33x10.5 and the power increase was instantly noticeable, it drove way straighter to and turns a lot better. It transformed the car.

But yeah probably not what you want to hear. The only way to make more room will be to add wheel spaces or modify the wheel, which will add even more weight to your wheel bearings. I would never trust spacers and wouldn't feel comfortable going off road to remote places with your current set up.
But they do look cool!

 

[Jago]

Rubber washer is not a washer at all...its a tie rod and tie-rod boot. You'll see that the steering arm is bolted to knuckle which the wheel bolts to the hub and all one unit, so the only way to change the distance is a spacer, different wheel offset, narrower tires.

Thank you guys. I’m starting to think I should change the wheels

 

[bikersmurf]

Thank you guys. I’m starting to think I should change the wheels

I’ve been running 1/4” aluminum spacers on the front wheels for 30 years and over 100k miles. I didn’t need to extend the studs, but I can’t say if your’s will be long enough. Probably at 25 years for the 1/4” spacers on the FF rear.

No problems whatsoever.

 

[plink01]

Thank you guys. I’m starting to think I should change the wheels

That's personally what I'd be doing. Have a look online and there is tons and tons of info online about fat vs skinny off road tyres.

Some of it is pretty professionally written stuff out there, but obviously its pretty hard to do definitive tests on these things as there are so many variables and not many people are going to buy two sets of tyres to do side by side tests!

This was the best read I found and swayed me to go with 10.5's.

It's a long read but pretty interesting.

Tire Selection for Expedition Travel

Does anyone have a copy of Scott Brady's white paper on Tire Selection for Expo Travel? The Expeditions West website appears to be down and all of the returns I'm getting on Google searches refer back to that site.

forum.expeditionportal.com

 

[bernardbar3]

I'm surprised your wheel weights are not hitting the tie rod end. I used a 1/4 inch aluminum wheel spacer to make clearance, worked great.

I’ve been running 1/4” aluminum spacers on the front wheels for 30 years and over 100k miles. I didn’t need to extend the studs, but I can’t say if your’s will be long enough. Probably at 25 years for the 1/4” spacers on the FF rear.

No problems whatsoever.

 

[bernardbar3]

What brand of spacer did you get? Thanks

 

[kerplunk]

Thank you guys. I’m starting to think I should change the wheels

A couple years back I got a deal on some 255/75R17 MTs that I couldn't pass up, ended up getting a set of wheels from an FJ Cruiser to mount them on.

The inside of the time looks about the same area as mine, except that with 17" wheels gives it enough space to clear that ball joint easily.

The back didn't fit though, and I did mount spacers on those.

 

[bernardbar3]

What size spacers did you get? Thanks

 

[cruiserkev]

I had similar clearance issues on my 76 and sometimes wood or other debris would get pinched in between the rim and rod end off road. Installed some 1/4 inch spacers on all 4 wheels and have plenty of room now. I didn't swap
wheel studs as there seemed to be plenty of threads left for the lug nuts. Bought them from JT Outfitters for $6 each a couple years ago and they have worked great ever since.

 

[bernardbar3]

I had similar clearance issues on my 76 and sometimes wood or other debris would get pinched in between the rim and rod end off road. Installed some 1/4 inch spacers on all 4 wheels and have plenty of room now. I didn't swap
wheel studs as there seemed to be plenty of threads left for the lug nuts. Bought them from JT Outfitters for $6 each a couple years ago and they have worked great ever since.

Perfecto, muchas gracias!

 

[Mark Jennings]

Thank you guys. I’m starting to think I should change the wheels

I used 1/4 inch spacers and longer (55 mm) studs from here (e-bay, Indonesias):

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER FJ40 FJ45 BJ40 BJ42 WHEEL LUG STUD WITH NUT 6PCS 12mm X 55mm | eBay

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER FJ40 FJ45 BJ40 BJ42. FJ40 FJ45 BJ40 BJ45, may fit also for other model. WHEEL LUG STUD WITH NUT 6PCS 12MMX55MM. Fit for Toyota Model .

www.ebay.com

Stock studs are to short with spacers.