RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
I got my Reid Racing passenger side knuckle today. Thanks www.alljeep.com ! This will probably be the nicest chunk of metal on the whole Jeep.
Jeep Cheap Cherokee Build
- Thread starter RockMonkey
- Start date
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
Reid stuff is just plain sexy. That'll be a nice addition to your UberJeep. 
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
Just out of curiousity, how much would you say you're into the "Cheap Cherokee Build" at this point, and has it lived up to your expectations when you started? If not, what would you do differently?
I think it looks great, seems to work well, and has some good, solid, creative solutions.
I think it looks great, seems to work well, and has some good, solid, creative solutions.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
I also got a new high steer arm in the mail. It's a 4 bolt arm, for the Reid knuckle, but only came with 3 cone washers. The Ebay picture showed 3 washers, but I hoped they would send four, since it was a four bolt arm. Are cone washers available locally in Salt Lake? Bolt & Nut Supply maybe? Also, it came with grade 8 bolts. I thought the only acceptable way to attach them was with studs. Are bolts acceptable, if there are 4 of them, and they are grade 8? I am planning on attaching only the drag link to the arm, not the tie rod.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
I was not able to get it un-tapered. It's tapered from the bottom. The arm seems like it may be higher than the stock one, so the tie rod end in the bottom may just line up with the other side in the top. Probably not...
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
Bolts are probably fine since there are 4...but I may have some studs for you. I'm 90% sure I have the cone washer you need.
Let me know what you have, and what you want for it. I also bought something from Speedway, so I won't have to use yours again.
Let me know what you have, and what you want for it. I also bought something from Speedway, so I won't have to use yours again.
Remind me tomorrow, when I'm home and awake. I'm nearly sure I'll forget shortly after I fall asleep tomorrow morning.
I'm sure you'll need something of mine again, so I can justify using your Drill Doctor again.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
I'm not sure what I'm into it. I think I still have all the receipts. I added it up several pages back after all the big parts were purchased and it was $2600 something, I think. I'm certain it's under $5000 still, and probably under $4000. So far I think it's only done Pritchett Canyon, Rusty Nail, Rattlesnake, and Contrictor. On those trails it worked as well or better than I expected. The only time it's ever been on the end of a winch or strap is at Eagle's Nest. It's by far the most comfortable vehicle I've ever had on a trail. It rides really nice, and the heat and AC work great. For a family wheeler it is awesome, and that's what it was built to be. It will never do the buggy-only trails, but people will be surprised at where it will go, and how easily it will make a lot of tough terrain look. I'm excited to do a lot more in it!
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
Remind me tomorrow, when I'm home and awake. I'm nearly sure I'll forget shortly after I fall asleep tomorrow morning.
I'm sure you'll need something of mine again, so I can justify using your Drill Doctor again.
You don't need any justification. Use it any time you want.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
I yanked the stock knuckle this morning. I searched the internet trying to find pictures comparing Reid to the stock knuckle before I bought the Reid, and couldn't find them. Hopefully people will be able to find them here when they have the same questions I did. The thing I could never figure out was if the stock (lower) steering arm on the Reid D44001FR knuckle is in the same location as the stock 1978 - 1979 Bronco knuckle. For future searchers, the answer is no! It's hard to get an exact measurement, but the bottom surface on the Reid knuckle is actually a bit higher than the top surface of the stock knuckle. The Reid knuckle is already tapered from the bottom, and my stock knuckle on the other side is tapered from the top. I'll put it together with the tie rod above the driver's side stock knuckle, and below the passenger side Reid knuckle. This should make the tie rod pretty close to flat, but not perfect. It will work fine, but if it looks super goofy, I'll eventually get a matching Reid knuckle on the other side. If I do that, it would be tragic to not move the tie rod up to the high-steer arms, so I'll do that too.
Attachments
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
I didn't know the age or condition of the existing ball joints, so I didn't buy any just in case the previous owner of this axle replaced these ball joints. After taking the knuckle out, the ball joints are pretty worn out, so I'll go pick up a new set of ball joints before I install the Reid knuckle.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
Yeah... It's the last thing I should be worried about, but I sure don't want a wonky tie rod.Hopefully the offset of the tie rod ends above/below the steering arms will be just enough to avoid the Bretting of the tie rod.
I have cone washers for you, but no studs.
I just need one of those cone washers.
Certainly go with spicers over the other brands. Over the years of 38" SX's on my front d44, the spicers would last about 2 years vs. the 0.75 years of the other brands. Actually, the last set of spicers I put in it before I sold it had about 2 years on them and were still pretty tight.
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
That's interesting. Is Six States the only place to get legit Spicer ball joints?
Edit: Just found "MasterPro" upper and lower ball joints on Oreillyauto.com for $12 and $13 respectively, with a lifetime warranty. Spicer is probably over $50 bucks each. Has anyone bought cheap ball joints and broken them?
RockMonkey
Suddenly Enthusiastic
It looks like 706116X is the Spicer part number for an upper and lower ball joint kit. Four Wheel Parts sells it for $65.99. They're worth almost 3 times as much?