Alright, I got my knuckles and front LCAs back from the powder coater today. I decided to go ahead and put the spindle shafts and bushings in place just to not have them sitting loose.
Here's some picture vomit of the process and reassembly.
Even when new, these parts weren't super attractive. Now that hundreds of thousands of miles of dirt, grease and road grime have accumulated on them, they're even less so.
The powder coated acid dipped them to remove most of the coating, first,then he sandblasted them to a uniform finish. Even after both of those processes, the TL front knuckles still looked pretty bad. The came off of a junkyard car and I just let them sit for years. No clue why they got so bad. More on how bad they were in a bit.
Everything was taped off before coating. I didn't think to tell him that he could powder coat over things like the front ABS sensor boss or the rear ball joint cover area. He just saw areas where something would need to mount to, and masked them off. I forgot to tell him I was no longer using those provisions.
Getting sprayed and baked.
The finished product!
Here's more on the TL front knuckles. The wheel bearing presses in from the front here until it bottoms out on a lip in back. At that point, a large snap ring goes on top which holds it in place. The snap ring had rusted so badly that it had fused with the iron of the knuckle and not allowed it to come out. No combination of penetrating oil, heat or snap ring pliers would cause it to even budge. So I reluctantly cut grooves into the knuckle just deep enough to separate the snap ring into multiple pieces so that I could chisel them out. Luckily, I didn't cause any damage that would prevent the bearing from sliding in, And the new snap rings will still install just fine. The flange from the hub will cover up my ogre-quality repair.
Now to get the rear spindle shafts and bushings reinstalled. As many on here have done, I've used the bushings intended for the front upper control arm anchor bolts for the rear lower shock mounts. The CD5 knuckles on the car right now have Hardrace bearings installed. I'm not about that life (anymore), as the youth say.
Picture credit goes to my lovely fiancee who is always eager to help just as an excuse to hang out in the garage with me!
Here's some picture vomit of the process and reassembly.
Even when new, these parts weren't super attractive. Now that hundreds of thousands of miles of dirt, grease and road grime have accumulated on them, they're even less so.
The powder coated acid dipped them to remove most of the coating, first,then he sandblasted them to a uniform finish. Even after both of those processes, the TL front knuckles still looked pretty bad. The came off of a junkyard car and I just let them sit for years. No clue why they got so bad. More on how bad they were in a bit.
Everything was taped off before coating. I didn't think to tell him that he could powder coat over things like the front ABS sensor boss or the rear ball joint cover area. He just saw areas where something would need to mount to, and masked them off. I forgot to tell him I was no longer using those provisions.
Getting sprayed and baked.
The finished product!
Here's more on the TL front knuckles. The wheel bearing presses in from the front here until it bottoms out on a lip in back. At that point, a large snap ring goes on top which holds it in place. The snap ring had rusted so badly that it had fused with the iron of the knuckle and not allowed it to come out. No combination of penetrating oil, heat or snap ring pliers would cause it to even budge. So I reluctantly cut grooves into the knuckle just deep enough to separate the snap ring into multiple pieces so that I could chisel them out. Luckily, I didn't cause any damage that would prevent the bearing from sliding in, And the new snap rings will still install just fine. The flange from the hub will cover up my ogre-quality repair.
Now to get the rear spindle shafts and bushings reinstalled. As many on here have done, I've used the bushings intended for the front upper control arm anchor bolts for the rear lower shock mounts. The CD5 knuckles on the car right now have Hardrace bearings installed. I'm not about that life (anymore), as the youth say.
Picture credit goes to my lovely fiancee who is always eager to help just as an excuse to hang out in the garage with me!
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