Nomination for Booger Weld H.O.F.

dekeeb

dekeeb

Sharpest Tool
Aug 24, 2013
243
Minnesota
First Name
Kris
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1955
Yeaaah, this looks just fine. While tearing down my 55 pickup ahead of a frame swap, I came across this wonderful conglomeration in the front end steering. I snapped a few photos to capture the artistry of this repair. After soaking all this goodness in, I combed through my parts and service manual and I'm having a difficult time finding the proper parts listing and a diagram of the knuckle's connection to the lower steering arm where it attaches to the connection rod. Can someone point me to the proper reference so I can find replacement parts? Although it may be hard to see from the photos, the lower arm is connected to the knuckle via three bolts in two different sizes. The the bolt with the largest head was not completely seated prior to Sparky completing his old world welding magic. After discovering this mess, I'm feeling fortunate I was able to safely load the truck onto a flatbed to get my truck home.
 

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Trlaketige said:
Wow! Bubba really outdid himself!
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In my cartoon bubble I see an overweight, balding older man (no, not me) chomping on a stubby cigar in a dimly lit shop wearing a ginormous welding mask that makes him look like a Minion. Plenty of nudie pictures on the walls and multiple flip top returnable cardboard beer cases with empty's waiting for a beer run into town to pick more Pfeiffer's. Probably an A.M. radio plugged into the wall somewhere with a ball game being played ahead of a coming thunderstorm. After the job was complete, the word Summbitch was heard along with some kind of vague claim that repair would be good forever.
 
dekeeb said:
proper parts listing and a diagram of the knuckle's connection to the lower steering arm where it attaches to the connection rod.
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Not counting the usual stuff like the kingpin bearings, you'll need, at a minimum, the four studs, (with lockwashers and proper nuts), the arm, and the knuckle. @diggerG probably has it all.

What I find really interesting is that, with this being so critical and such a problem area (the arm always moves slightly on the studs after a while) that the manual doesn't seem to address this very well. I know that on the WWII version that they used two standard studs and two over-sized studs to locate and lock the arms. The caps that just hold the kingpin bearings just use four standard studs. I couldn't find any specific reference to this in the truck manual, but maybe I just missed it. Hopefully somebody will find and post it because of the importance of this issue and the fact that the problem is so common. On my last GPW project I used four over-sized studs to lock each steering arm to compensate for wear (WWII jeeps have a steering arm on each side, unlike the truck/wagon that only has an arm on the driver's side).
 
New arms are available from the usual suspects. My truck also has the arm welded (much more neatly) to the knuckle. Probably because two of the bolt holes had stripped out. I plan to use studs and nuts when I put a new arm on.

I suspect those welds can be removed from the knuckle pretty easy with a grinder and a chisel.
 
Given the high probability that those threaded bores in the knuckle are as cobbled up as the repair, I think I would find another knuckle. The counter bore for the race may also be wallowed out.

Bubba indeed!
 
I find this a lot, DIY work by unknowledgeable folks especially in older homes undergoing renovations. Boogered electric, plumbing, etc… Some people just need to leave it alone and fine a good tradesman.
 
When I pulled up the floor in our second floor bathroom we found that all of the joists were just resting in their joist hangers and no one had bothered to put in the nails that are supposed to connect the joists to the header. And in the hallway where there was a squeak in the floor I found a joist that was an inch short causing the squeak. Who builds these things and who paid off the inspector?
 
Wow, that's amazing! I find it amazing as well that the knuckle/spindle bolts aren't broken (and b-welded).
Are you planning on using the original front axle set-up? Just an FYI: I have a D25 out of a 230 Wagon w/ 3.54 and 2 hole knuckles that I'm going to sell.
 
Tralehead said:
Are you planning on using the original front axle set-up?
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Yep, going to stick with the original Dana 25 front end it came with. Besides that conglomeration on the knuckle I've peeked at everything else and it looks and sounds good with the exception of the driver side spindle which was chewed up a bit. My guess is that this thing let loose on the drivers side somewhere along the line (it had been parked since 1978) and when Bubba fired up his Army surplus welder to stitch it back together he slapped on two new wheel bearing and called it a smashing success of a repair. The wheel races and bearings were like new, but the previous owner just kind of wished away any problems when it came to the chewed up spindle. In defense of the previous owner, life was different back in the mid-70's when it came to sourcing parts. We have it pretty good these days.
 
JABJEEP said:
Not counting the usual stuff like the kingpin bearings, you'll need, at a minimum, the four studs, (with lockwashers and proper nuts), the arm, and the knuckle. @diggerG probably has it all.

What I find really interesting is that, with this being so critical and such a problem area (the arm always moves slightly on the studs after a while) that the manual doesn't seem to address this very well. I know that on the WWII version that they used two standard studs and two over-sized studs to locate and lock the arms. The caps that just hold the kingpin bearings just use four standard studs. I couldn't find any specific reference to this in the truck manual, but maybe I just missed it. Hopefully somebody will find and post it because of the importance of this issue and the fact that the problem is so common. On my last GPW project I used four over-sized studs to lock each steering arm to compensate for wear (WWII jeeps have a steering arm on each side, unlike the truck/wagon that only has an arm on the driver's side).
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I agree finding any details in the parts or repair manuals I have on hand are certainly a challenge for me. I think the boys in R&D @ Willy's needed to sit around the drafting table a little longer before pushing this design into production. But then again, life was cheap back in 1955.
 
timd32 said:
I got some from @diggerG were really nice. He should have one for you.



Side note reminds me of this hack job I found in my out building a few years after I moved in.

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Can you imagine the streak of swear words coming out of that "carpenters" mouth when he did that. Looks like there may have been a few heavy deflections on at least five of those nails before he decided to move his gun a bit. Drywall does wonders in making problems like that go away.
 
dekeeb said:
Yep, going to stick with the original Dana 25 front end it came with.
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All good but just an FYI: I broke the spindle bolts on my (wt)F head stock Wagon hitting a rock at 20mph. It was at night on a graded dirt road and I didn't see it. Yes, going a little fast and running 35's but still a good argument to augment your axle with the stud upgrade. Lots of how to's on yootoob.
 
Herk said:
I suspect those welds can be removed from the knuckle pretty easy with a grinder and a chisel.
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I tried knocking a few of the snot balls off on the front side of the knuckle where I suspect the repairs were started and had some success. However, once I got the knuckle off and onto the bench I could see the welder must have been cranked way up and it had penetrated to the inside of the knuckle. At that point I gave up on the idea of a rehab and decided to try and source a replacement.
 
Tralehead said:
All good but just an FYI: I broke the spindle bolts on my (wt)F head stock Wagon hitting a rock at 20mph. It was at night on a graded dirt road and I didn't see it. Yes, going a little fast and running 35's but still a good argument to augment your axle with the stud upgrade. Lots of how to's on yootoob.
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That does shine a little different light on what I may do. The history of this front end leads me to believe an improvement or two along the way would be a welcome idea.
 
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