Toyota knuckle bearings?

[Rot Box]

Brilliant strategy. Sell low quality Chinese bearings for several years, leading to piles of failures like Robbie eluded too. Then come out with a solution to the problem you created

It is a neat concept and I think in dedicated trail rigs this is probably not a bad way to go. But I can't imagine the wear surfaces will last longer on a DD rig than a set of nice Koyo bearings. Time will tell how they hold up

Fwiw the only quality bearings I have seen break have been the result of broken or loose knuckle studs. I've seen plenty of worn out bearings, but we are talking 100k+ miles.

Ha ha that's what I was thinking too Nevertheless it is a great idea for trail rigs and given the design I see no problems with long term street use as long as they remain greased.

I agree that a properly set up bearing should last a very long time. Unfortunately most assume that removing the old bearing and installing the new one is all that is involved when there is actually a lot more to it. That being said a cheap bearing will fail regardless of whether or not it is installed properly. All failed bearings that I have seen were installed by the owner regardless of bearing make... These axles are pushed well beyond their limits when people want a wider stance and use wheel spacers and/or outset rims to get it.

I also like this concept http://www.marlincrawler.com/steering/high-steer/25mm-steering-upgrade-kit-w-arms because it increases the pin size as well. I have seen a few broken pins--for some reason the TG upgrade retains the stock pin size

 

[I Lean]

This is the case for many people and I think TG finally realized it. They just came out with these and they should be about the ultimate in strength http://trail-gear.com/trunnion-bearing-eliminator-kit.html If I still had the Toy axle I would probably have these on order. For those that can't tell they are basically a king pin similar to what is found in the earlier Dana 60's. It replaces the trunnion bearing altogether.

The only thing that would scare me about that is that D60's use a lower bearing to take all the load, and the upper bushing just locates stuff (side loads) The TG version is just metal-on-metal, top and bottom. Fine for trail rig I'm sure, but a DD I think I'd stick to bearings.