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Steering knuckles -- letters/numbers on them -- meaning?


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Ok, the search for a way to make the 1988 GL wagon useful continues.

Steering knuckle (right front) is worn so bad the adjustment screw can't tighten the bottom of the strut, so it shimmies; can't align the wheels. (Three mechamics' shops missed this, the tire place found it in five minutes.)

 

On the car, the steering knuckles -- these are big hunks of what I guess is cast iron? Have these raised letters/numbers on them

 

Right: R 8C 12

Left: L 8C 12

 

A friend gave me some parts from his junkpile, saying they came from a different model Subaru but 'might fit'

 

These have these letters/numbers on them:

 

R 2L 17 4 (the last almost illegible under the cruft, think it's a '4')

L 2L 17 6 (maybe the're both 6, I'll get the wire brush .....)

 

Mean anything to anyone? I assume R - right and L - left, but whether the others mean just which year they poured the iron to cast the thing, or mean they're for one model Subaru but not another -- I can't tell. The only parts person who's offered to look hasn't come back.

 

And unfortunately -- no shop and bad carpal tunnel -- it's the tire shop that will take the GL apart and fix it, so I don't want to give them junkyard "try and see if this fits" parts and they don't have time to mess around, without knowing they've got good parts to put in.

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Those numbers mean nothing to me - need part numbers. Probably right about the R and L.

 

You can use any knuckles from an EA82 - which is all wagons, 3 door coupes and sedans from 1985 to 1989, and ALL Loyales from 1990 to 1994. You will not be able to use any parts from "another model" it will have to be an EA82 based vehicle. There should be plenty of them in the junk yards around you - and there are many board members in CA that may have some.

 

If all else fails, I can easily get a set from the yards around here. Not light, so shipping wouldn't be cheap. The Knuckle is not a wear item - the problem you have is because of bad previous maintenance. I have actually never seen that happen - probably wasn't tightened down properly by someone.

 

GD

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Won't be easy to do with the one on car.. But measure the distance between the bolt holes where the caliper mount bracket bolts on. This will tell you if it will fit yours or not.

 

Besides the difference in the tie-rod hole, the mount point for the caliper bracket is different between the EA-81 and the EA-82.

 

Hope that helps......

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The only parts person who's offered to look hasn't come back.

 

I'm back at work finally. I can't do too much over the weekend, since I don't have access to my work computer remotely, which has the parts program which I use to determine part numbers, etc.

 

:)

 

SOA4524106R is the number for the right side (reman.)

SOA4524107R is the number for the left side (reman.)

 

I'm welcoming you to come to my home to inspect some off a parts car, and bring your others for comparison, and we can work on a price, etc.

 

I have an EA82 based parts car, which is in dire need of parting out to help fund the repair of the EA82T resealing the engine, and getting it on the road. It isn't too far to drive, now is it?

 

:)

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Yes to both --

 

TO Emily -- Tony at Don's Tire got a fax and should have called the supplier you found who has the parts in Colorado -- and I've got to bug him Friday.

 

Assuming he handles getting parts from them, he'll just call me when it's time to roll the Subaru down the hill! I told Tony to ask them for both left and right, and committed to him. Just waiting on that.

 

I've kept asking because

-- I did get handed a couple of front end parts by a local fellow who was cleaning out his garage, and

-- figured I ought to identify what I got (since these things appear scarce!) and learn something, and

-- just in case Tony and your Colorado contact didn't decide they're good to go ....

 

TO Roo yes also, I'll drive over to Marin, see what I can learn comparing these garage cleanout pieces after I clean them up -- maybe they are a backup for me, or can be identified and be usable for someone else, or as boat anchors.

 

Heck, maybe I'll find a second Subaru GL, isn't that the way this addiction works?

 

Uh, oh ...

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(since these things appear scarce!),.... or as boat anchors.

 

Not scarce (I could get you 50 sets (right and left) tommorow if you wanted them), and yes - largely boat anchors. The only reason you are having a hard time finding them is they NEVER wear out (not really possible since they have no moving parts), and so no one keeps them around for spares. Your's are only bad due to improper installation.

 

GD

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yeah, someone probably overtorqued it or something.

I'd wonder if a knuckle - minus the disc brake backing plate - could fit in a Postal Flat Rate box? less than $9 to ship...

 

*maybe* one of those square ones, but I kinda doubt it. Worth a try maybe. He's only in CA - last time I shipped an LSD there is was about $45 at the USP store. The knuckles weight less than a diff....

 

GD

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GD wrote: "... they NEVER wear out (not really possible since they have no moving parts), and so no one keeps them around for spares. Your's are only bad due to improper installation. "

 

Well, damn. That tells me what happened.

 

The shaking started the day I got the car back from Autometrics in Berkeley -- they installed my rebuilt engine, and at the same time replaced both front axles telling me they were clicking and it'd be cheaper to do it while the engine was out.

 

And they blamed the shaking on 'uneven compression' in the rebuilt engine, and told me to drive the car a thousand miles and the problem ought to go away -- or else they'd tell the rebuilder to take the engine back and redo it.

 

And they rechecked the car several times over the next few months.

 

Seems likely in hindsight that Autometrics left the right front knuckle adjustment loose the day they put the engine back in. The shaking was obvious the first day I took the car out after that.

 

And it took months ('vibration' is in the header of one of the old topics) to figure out what the problem was, as Autometrics kept taking compression measurements and saying the shaking was uneven compression, and I thought it had to be one of the new axles they put in at the same time as the engine -- and Emily finally suggested maybe Autometrics had never got the alignment right, I took it to Don's Tire, who spotted the problem in the first few minutes as being a worn out steering knuckle on right front side.

 

So, steering knucles don't just wear out, huh?

 

Damndamndamn.

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Heck, maybe I'll find a second Subaru GL, isn't that the way this addiction works?

 

Uh, oh ...

 

I went on CL and found a '86 GL-10 Turbo with push-button 4WD, 5MT, fully loaded with fog lights and everything...in pretty darn good condition. The guy had it diagnosed at a local shop after the radiator inlet hose connection blew off, and they said it's a head gasket.

 

Nothing that I've seen indicates that the head gasket is gone, but I could be mistaken. I'm going to replace the radiator tomorrow to get it home (donor EA-82 N/A), then fix it.

 

The price I paid for this wonderful car? Priceless. Owner told me where it was, had the keys under the floor mat, and the signed over title in the glove box.

 

:grin:

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Well, damn. That tells me what happened.

 

Damndamndamn.

 

Yeah - the really stupid part is that you don't have to take that part of the knuckle loose for an axle swap. There are about 2 dozen ways to do axles, and taking the strut loose at the knuckle isn't the easiest either. I've never done it that way - a lot of folks take the three bolts on top of the strut off, but really all you have to take loose is the sway bar link, and the inner lower control arm bolt. :rolleyes:

 

Hey - at least you found the problem, and it's not the suby's fault.

 

GD

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Yeah - the really stupid part is that you don't have to take that part of the knuckle loose for an axle swap. There are about 2 dozen ways to do axles, and taking the strut loose at the knuckle isn't the easiest either. I've never done it that way - a lot of folks take the three bolts on top of the strut off, but really all you have to take loose is the sway bar link, and the inner lower control arm bolt. :rolleyes:

 

Hey - at least you found the problem, and it's not the suby's fault.

 

GD

 

Do you have to take it apart for an engine swap? Or a brake rebuild? Both of those have been done, but at different times and by different people. So maybe it's an older problem after all.

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