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Dana 44 steering arm installation
Custom Dana 44 steering arms are available for both left and right side knuckles. Most left side knuckles are already drilled for a stock steering arm. Therefore, we will focus on the details related to installing the arm on the right side knuckle.
The right side knuckle will require some modification before the arm can be installed. The knuckle may have a raised seam of metal left behind by the process in which it was cast. You will need to machine or grind this off to make the knuckle as flat as possible. The 1/2 circle cut out on the inboard side of the arm is designed to fit around the upper ball joint. You will find 3 9/16 fine thread, grade 8 bolts in the kit. You must drill the knuckle to match the bolt pattern in the steering arm. Set the arm on top of the knuckle and position it in such a way that the drag link end, once installed, will not rub against the rim or tire. Then carefully center punch the knuckle thru the steering arm. This must be exact! If one of the bolts is off a little and goes in a little cock-eyed, when tightened, it may snap off. It really sucks if this happens driving down the Interstate.
The hardware is designed to tighten down using 2 different locking techniques. As the tapered cones are drawn down into the knuckle, they will bite down on the shank of the bolt as well as wedge itself into the sides of the steering arms tapered holes. The lock washers secure the bolts against the tops of the locking cones. With everything this tight, you can see why the precision drilling and tapping of the knuckle is so important.
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