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Steering Failure

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30 Jan 2016 07:30 - 30 Jan 2016 09:20 #1 by Chalkie
Chalkie created the topic: Steering Failure
Camped at the site of the old gold mining village of Lionsville on the way back from the gathering at Nymboida. Just came out of a creek and was heading home when there was no steering.
Three of the four studs attaching the steering arm to the top of knuckle had sheered and the fourth was bent but useable as it turned out. Probably a progressive failure.
The ends of the studs inside the threaded hole were removed using a scriber as a punch. Two and a half hours work.
One of the sheered studs still had maybe 10 mm of thread. The nylon bushing for the king pin was in two pieces.
Reinserted the bent stud. The one with the small amount of thread was reversed. Found the mounting bolts for my solar panels would fit although only about 10 mm of thread taken up.
Managed to put it all back together and all worked. Made sure I dogged all bumps and got home safely.
317 will be in sick bay for a while I reckon.
Last Edit: 30 Jan 2016 09:20 by Chalkie.

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30 Jan 2016 08:19 #2 by Paul Scherek
Paul Scherek replied the topic: Steering Failure
Paul Knott does a beefed up steering knuckle set - this is a known issue, though usually it is a catastrophic failure of the knuckle itself, not just damaged studs. I would not leave home in an Oka without these.

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30 Jan 2016 09:23 #3 by Chalkie
Chalkie replied the topic: Steering Failure
Thanks Paul. I will dismantle both sides and see what I need.

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30 Jan 2016 14:46 #4 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Steering Failure
This is the beefed up steering knuckle set that is fitted to 266



Comparison with standard knuckle




As fitted

Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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www.byles.net/www.oka4wd.com/forum/membe...oka-266?limitstart=0
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30 Jan 2016 15:20 #5 by Chalkie
Chalkie replied the topic: Steering Failure
Thanks for the pics Pete. Seems to be the way to go.

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30 Jan 2016 19:39 #6 by Outback Jack
Outback Jack replied the topic: Steering Failure

PeteFox wrote: This is the beefed up steering knuckle set that is fitted to 266



Comparison with standard knuckle




As fitted

Pete


Is that Paul Knott supplied one?

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30 Jan 2016 20:31 #7 by Tony Lee
Tony Lee replied the topic: Steering Failure
What has the steering knuckle itself got to do with the failure of the four studs - or are the studs somehow beefed up as well.

Tony

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31 Jan 2016 02:57 #8 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Steering Failure

Tony Lee wrote: What has the steering knuckle itself got to do with the failure of the four studs - or are the studs somehow beefed up as well.

Tony
On the beefed up one the arms are keyed to the knuckle so there is no side load on the bolts, they only provide the clamping force.
Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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01 Feb 2016 17:24 #9 by Peter_n_Margaret
Peter_n_Margaret replied the topic: Steering Failure
#196 broke a LH steering knuckle casting a couple of weeks ago.
It was manoeuvring in our driveway at the time. :)
Ours was number 16 of these that Paul has supplied.

The RH is not under the same stress as the LH.

Cheers,
Peter

Cheers, Peter.
OKA196 tinyurl.com/OKA196xtMotorhome
Mob.0428171214

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03 Feb 2016 11:10 #10 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Steering Failure
Is this a one off Peter, or a problem with the part. Do you have any photos?
Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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www.byles.net/www.oka4wd.com/forum/membe...oka-266?limitstart=0

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05 Feb 2016 21:40 - 05 Feb 2016 21:59 #11 by Peter_n_Margaret
Peter_n_Margaret replied the topic: Steering Failure
It looks to me as if the crack started at the end of the rear offside cap bolt.
Paul is certainly of the view that it is an inherent weakness in the part design. The replacement is radically different.





Broken top removed and crud cleaned up.
The bottom of the stud hole is clearly visible.





Cheers,
Peter

Cheers, Peter.
OKA196 tinyurl.com/OKA196xtMotorhome
Mob.0428171214
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Last Edit: 05 Feb 2016 21:59 by Peter_n_Margaret.
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06 Feb 2016 05:06 - 06 Feb 2016 05:09 #12 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Steering Failure
That's scary stuff Peter. 20 year old vehicles must be developing stress fractures somewhere. Critical locations like this are a bit of a worry though. A failure at 100kmh doesn't bear thinking about.
This is why I changed mine over. 400k km and most of it spent on corrugated roads, they (knuckles) just worried me. I've got a pair of stub axles to go on as well for the same reason.
Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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Last Edit: 06 Feb 2016 05:09 by PeteFox.

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06 Feb 2016 07:13 - 06 Feb 2016 07:16 #13 by dandjcr
dandjcr replied the topic: Steering Failure
Cripes Peter, I thought that sort of failure only happened in America!

I guess that would put your failure about here:



Give that the top of the knuckle is more about stabilising/turning the wheel, logically I would have thought the lower end was more at risk as it transfers the wheel weight and shock load to the axle:



Either way, another inspection is now due. I had my knuckles overhauled last year while chasing wheel wobble, I should have investigated upgraded knuckles when the exchange rate was favourable.

David and Janet Ribbans - Oka 148
Oka148 profile here.
Visit our technical and travel blogs: here.
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Last Edit: 06 Feb 2016 07:16 by dandjcr.

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06 Feb 2016 09:24 #14 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Steering Failure

Outback Jack wrote:

PeteFox wrote: This is the beefed up steering knuckle set that is fitted to 266

Pete


Is that Paul Knott supplied one?


Yes

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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06 Feb 2016 09:35 #15 by PeteFox
PeteFox replied the topic: Steering Failure

Peter_n_Margaret wrote: It looks to me as if the crack started at the end of the rear offside cap bolt.



Cheers,
Peter


Yes Peter and it also looks to me like the crack has been developing for a long time as there is grease nearly all along the failure except r at the LH end where there is fresh metal. And you'd never spot it without the front wheel removed and then I guess you'd have to be looking for it.
I'm guessing that you did a fair bit of driving with a couple of square cm of metal holding the front of your truck together!
Lottery ticket time
Pete

Pete Fox OKA266 MultiCab
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06 Feb 2016 10:26 - 06 Feb 2016 10:37 #16 by Peter_n_Margaret
Peter_n_Margaret replied the topic: Steering Failure

dandjcr wrote: I should have investigated upgraded knuckles when the exchange rate was favourable.

The replacement part is branded ENDUROCO.
enduroco.com/ in Melbourne.




The black top cap that is engraved is aluminium, by the way.....

Paul said that many of the these parts he has supplied were for OKA busses.
They pull up alongside a kerb to let off or pick up passengers and then try to do a U turn. The kerb stops the wheel turning and the LH knuckle breaks.

Cheers,
Peter

Cheers, Peter.
OKA196 tinyurl.com/OKA196xtMotorhome
Mob.0428171214
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Last Edit: 06 Feb 2016 10:37 by Peter_n_Margaret.
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06 Feb 2016 16:48 - 06 Feb 2016 16:55 #17 by Chalkie
Chalkie replied the topic: Steering Failure

Finely got to take the knuckle off. Wear marks on the area under the steering arm (pic attached) indicate a prolonged degree of movement between the two pieces. A progressive failure as I presumed. No indication of cracks in the knuckle from naked eye.
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Last Edit: 06 Feb 2016 16:55 by Chalkie.

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29 Oct 2019 09:54 #18 by John and Bronwyn
John and Bronwyn replied the topic: Steering Failure
Probably time this topic had another airing - the potential consequences are catastrophic!
Someone I know (not on this forum) uses an Oka XT as a work truck, serial not known.
For some time he had noticed a gradual creep in front end alignment. Recently he was horrified to find that the LH steering knuckle had a large crack, originating at the top near where the steering arm attaches. The crack had obviously started quite some time ago. Fortunately it had not progressed to complete failure.
He was able to source an upgraded replacement from Paul N.
Mine (191) had the upgrade when I got it.
From the previous posts on this topic and from elsewhere it sounds as though knuckle failure is not exactly unknown. Also, Michael Hession reported on steering arm failure quite a while ago.
If you have the original knuckle, it would be a good idea to keep a close eye on it. Might be time to think about the upgrade?

John
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