OEM Dodge Viper Steering Knuckle

Dodge Viper Steering Knuckle Parts and Q&A

• Knuckle, Front Passenger Side
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  Q: How to Remove a Front Steering Knuckle on Dodge Viper?

  A:

  When you want to remove the front steering knuckle, first lift the vehicle and take off the wheel and tire assembly. After that, unhook the Brake Caliper from the knuckle and move it somewhere it won't get in the way, then take off the brake rotor. Take off the nut holding the ABS wheel speed sensor head to the steering knuckle and get rid of the sensor head. Unscrew the nut from the outer tie rod and, when removing the rod from the knuckle with the C-4150A Puller, protect the tie rod grease seal. With those parts removed, don't strike the steering knuckle or use heat on it. To keep from harming the grease seal, quickly insert Spacer, Special Tool 6983, between the seal and knuckle. Place Puller, Special Tool C-4150A, over the Spacer and knuckle, line up the ball bearing in the center of the bolt on the end of the lower ball joint stud and then remove the lower ball joint from the knuckle. Before releasing the upper ball joint, remove the cotter pin and castle nut from the stud, then put the Puller in place to release the ball joint from the knuckle. Take the steering knuckle off the control arms both on top and on the bottom. Should you need to access the hub and bearing, take off the bolt attaching the ABS tone wheel from the hub and bearing, then remove the tone wheel, after that the hub and bearing mounting bolts and lastly remove the hub and bearing from the knuckle.
• Knuckle, Front Driver Side
  68272307AA
  Q: How Is the Front Steering Knuckle Installed on Dodge Viper?

  A:

  If the tone wheel seal (1) is either missing or damaged, now is the time to install a new one prior to the steering knuckle. Once the hub and bearing are out, complete these next five steps and then you can install the knuckle. It is important to fit a special corrosion prevention gasket (1) between the hub and the bearing and the steering knuckle to block galvanic corrosion. Slide a new corrosion prevention gasket (1) over the hub and bearing flange (2) and place the hub and bearing (with gasket) into the steering knuckle (1) so the holes in the gasket are aligned with the holes in the hub and bearing. Attach the hub and bearing to the frame using four mounting bolts (3) tightened to 61 Nm (45 ft. lbs.). After that, insert the ABS wheel speed sensor tone wheel (4) and tighten its mounting bolt (4) to 17 Nm (13 ft. lbs.). Install the steering knuckle (5) to the lower ball joint stud, loosely fix the castle nut (4) and do the same for the top ball joint using nut (6). Link the outer tie rod to the steering knuckle and place a new tie rod nut (3) on it, tightening it to 75 Nm (55 ft. lbs.). Tighten the nut on top of the ball joint (6) to 102 Nm (75 ft. lbs.) so that a cotter pin (1) can fit through the nut and hole in the ball joint stud without the nut getting loose. Apply 160 Nm (118 ft. lbs.) of force when tightening the lower ball joint castle nut (4) and secure a cotter pin (2) through the ball joint castle nut and stud. Put the ABS wheel speed sensor head (2) into the steering knuckle (1) and fasten its mounting bolt (3) using an initial torque of 11 Nm (100 in. lbs.). After that, fit the brake rotor and Brake Caliper onto the knuckle, then attach the wheel and tire, tightening the sec-tion mounting nuts as you proceed, to a total of 135 Nm (100 ft. lbs.). Park the vehicle after lowering it and place it on an alignment rack or drive-on hoist; then carry out the wheel alignment. Take the vehicle on a test drive to make sure it works well.