Probly a no brainer but does anybody know if the knuckles from a say 2002 2wd 1500 will work on a 2002 4wd 1500 and so on and so on with both vehicles being of same year.

Chris

 

I believe the "steering knuckle" is actually part of the spindle assembly on our trucks, and they are not interchangeable 4x2 - 4x4.

 

Could you technically bolt it in? Probably, but they are not the same part number so the front suspension specs I imagine are different. The major difference between them is with the torsion bar/LCA setup. I think someone on another forum upgraded their 4wd truck to SRT brakes using the SRT knuckles. The bearings themselves bolt in the same for 2wd/4wd. My 2wd has the splines in the bearing for the halfshaft. Only way to find out for sure is to try it (this is at your own risk). I am wondering what sparked the question though.

 

I saw some lift spindles/knuckles on ebay that were fairly cheap and they were for a 2wd. I want to bring mine up about 3 inches but not with the torsion keys like I see everywhere. Working FT at a job that doesn't pay that great I can't afford a full kit unfortunately.

Chris

 

Trying to circumvent the way your suspension is designed to work may be more trouble than it's worth.

 

Thats what its starting too like. I was hoping to get a 3 inch lift without paying an arm and leg. was hoping that I could just throw some 3 inch spindles/knuckles on it and some 4 inch blocks for the rear and be good. However, it doesn't look like its gonna go the way I was hoping.

Chris

 

Here's the issue: the 4x2 spindle that lifts the truck 3-4" does so by moving the hub mounting point lower on the assembly. The spindle is the same height top-to-bottom. This is great for a 4x2, as there's nothing behind the hub. You cannot move the hub that far down on a 4x4, as your driveshaft still needs to go into the hub. Besides the fact that the angles on your CV joints would be pretty crazy at the hub, it would be physically impossible to put the shaft into the hub, because the lower ball joint is now right behind the hub mount point.

I don't have any pics of just the new spindles mounted, but here's a pic to demonstrate my point:

 

Nice pics Brandon, kinda let me see a little better.

I ended speaking with a guy at Fat bobs garage and they can do a 4 inch spindles and 4 inch blocks for me for 450 shipped.

Chris

 

^^
If they told you they can set you up with a spindle lift for your 4wd you are going to be pretty disappointed. You can't use lift spindles on a 4X4 for the reasons Brandon described/showed, unless you plan of removing your front half shafts and becoming a 2wd.

You have to go with leveling keys (since you are of the 02-05 torsion variety) that essentially adjusts the pre-load on your suspension to lift the front of the truck up. The down side is that the most you will get with the torsion keys/crank is about 3".

If your looking for more than ~3" and staying 4wd your looking at a true suspension lift. Something like a 4" or 6" lift that relocates you front diff and has a new cross member and taller knuckles.

nateroach

 

How hard would it be to make some relocation brackets for the front Diff? I would like to go about 3-4 inches but still keep good suspension geometry. I have heard alot of people having dissapointing results with just a torsion key setup. Have you had any experience with ride quality on those type lifts?

Chris