Zonked knuckle on da trail

[lowtideride]

Taking on a large rock face this weekend, I messed my left knuckle up.

At first i thought it was a wheel bearing backing off because of a loose nut, but after taking it down to the birf and finding nothing wrong, my next best guess would be a bad lower kunckle bearing or a bent knuckle.

It is very noticable while just having it sit there that the wheel is kicked out at the bottom and in at the top. Kind looks like an IFS supsension system on a desert racer.

well it flexed enought that it bent the backing plate and i was shooting grease out the back of the knuckle.

For fear of it being the bottom knuckle bearing i did not pull it beacuse of if it was and if it were to fall apart right then i would be one stuck dog. but i limped it back to camp and then home with out a problem besides it pulling to one side of the road.

any ideas to what it could be?

-Al

 

[lovetoski]

Wow. I didn't know you (or anybody) could do that. I'm impressed.

More to your question though...are the knuckle studs on the top and bottom of the knuckle tight, to spec (~65 ft lbs I think)?

What does it look like and sound like if you turn the wheel while that tire is off the ground?

 

[soggy60]

My guess would be Top Knuckle Bearing.

I've has 2 fail so far,,,,bottoms get lots o' lube,,,top doesn't get any after initial pack.

Knuckle Bearings : 30303 (bearing & race have same # )

go to any bearing store & ask by that number; then specify Timken, Koyo . . .

Pete, who didn't make it to A Pit :-(

 

[lowtideride]

I dont think its the top one because....its the bottom part of the knuckle that moves...I'll tear into it tomorrow night after work. I've re-placed them before on the re-build...

As for your comment lovetoski everyone that was on the trail were all scratching there heads going "I've never heard of that happening before" haha so yep i'll be carrying extra bearings from now on, for the trail...

-Al

and Pete you friggin missed it!!!!!.....Fl cruiser was at the top of the rock face going "no friggin way" since you see the top of it before ya take the trail down to it..

i'll send ya pics later on tonight or tomorrow sometime...with possible a right up from the trip

 

[lovetoski]

Al,

How long was the drive home on the tweaked bearing? Kind of an interesting worst case test for a part...first I trashed it, then I drove it home...

 

[lowtideride]

3 hours....i knew it was a possible trashed top or bottom bearing and i also inspected the wheel bearings on the trail so i knew they where fine. the knuckle bearings only move when when you turn and i also know from having the kunckle apart that there is no way it could come off just wobble like a sun of a bitch......i was a lil weary if the kunckle was cracked or bent that it might have a lil bit of trouble getting it home...

 

[lowtideride]

i believe it happened a split second after this...

 

[Doc]

Are you sure you didn't bent the axle housing or the bell?

 

[lowtideride]

i might have, but i dont think so...

 

[FL cruiser]

It always sucks to break something.
I thougt that rock face was somewhere between challenging and impossible.
But you were awfully close to making it over!!
This will be remembered as the "knuckle buster" run.

 

[soggy60]

When you say "backing plate" , do you mean the little metal ring that hold the grease seals or the 'big plate' behinf the brake rotor ? ? ?

Also, , if you suspect a lower knuckle bearing, get ready to find something worse...
When my Kn brgs went, the rollers fell from the cage:
. . . Wheels were not 'obviously' out of tilt...
. . . Could feel rig shift slightly when cornering
. . . Would feel a mild clunk, rig would want to wander
. . . in one direction, mild turn of steer wheel would
. . . get ya another mild clunk and wander in other direction...
I just hope ya didn't do something real bad, like 'out of round' bearing hole in
axle ball . . .or shearing of 'pin' . . .

maybe glad I didn't make it in my one & only one DD
Pete

 

[lowtideride]

hey now Pete this is my DD too im about 5 mins to tearing into it to see what i find...it almost feels like a sheared pin but i hope not..

i dont run any backing plates over the disks i was talking about the metal peice on the back of the knuckle that goes over the felt piece...

i'll report what i find...

it was odd though. with 12psi you could barely even tell that the tires left the ground..

-Al

 

[lowtideride]

i dont know about the sheared pin but the bearing is trashed!!!! i'll check the pin tomorrow...but the surf is good now...so im out the door.....never knew ya could trash the bearing like that on the trail....guess i'll put this on this list of parts to carry from now on...