Rear strut removal gone wrong

[myotis1134]

I just got back from the local machine shop, where the guy I spoke with said this knuckle is a lost cause. Has anyone managed to salvage a knuckle that has been over-stretched?

Context: had to bottle-jack the struts out. Nailed the passenger side, but not the driver side.



He went on to tell me that if he were attempting to press it back into shape, he would use a torch and the old strut for the attempt.
Looking it over, I'm wondering if I can't just make a jig, using the trailing arm holes for reference points to align the strut-pinch bolt holes.

Or, I have already sourced another knuckle on ebay. Worth a shot at alignment, or replace?

If I'm replacing, can I upgrade to a newer year?

 

[Devin]

Get a used one. I'm impressed with that damage.

 

[Irish Pride]

If you ever need to do rear struts again, remove the control arms from the knuckle and then remove the knuckle from the strut rod. At that point you can knock the knuckle straight down off the strut.

-Chad

 

[luigisho]

Get a used one.

Agree. You have one local? I always have to double take to remember you're in AK

 

[myotis1134]

Negative. I did a hasty search yesterday and believed I had found one on eBay. Unfortunately, when I went to buy it today, I learned it was a front knuckle, so I’m currently SOL.

If anyone has a ‘91-‘93 rear left knuckle they want to sell… or even a rear set, I’m in the market. Otherwise I’m going to have to attempt the jig-repair project.

 

[luigisho]

Have you looked at something like car-part.com? I looked at rear trailing arms for a 93 Taurus with 99518 zip code and stuff popped up. I would look through there and see if something is closer. Sometimes the exact part from a drop down may or may not be there but get something close. Sometimes a pic of entire parts car is on there so you can sleuth it out

 

[myotis1134]

Thank you Luigi. Found quite a selection, and even a couple semi-locally.

p.s. Just to be clear, rear knuckles from 1991-1993 are identical?

 

[kevinspann]

As far as you have that one stripped down, anything from '90 or so should work, as long as it takes the same hub, not the tapered roller bearings that 89s had. The vented disc vs unvented disc change should be in the backing plate that bolts to the spindle, which you already have off and can swap over.

 

[luigisho]

Thank you Luigi. Found quite a selection, and even a couple semi-locally.

p.s. Just to be clear, rear knuckles from 1991-1993 are identical?

I often refer to the shonutperformance.com website for oem part numbers. His list has 90-99 rear knuckles with same part numbers-- left and right are different. Bookmark his site for parts stuff. This list is under old website information tab then suspension. This link goes to the old website general, then hit suspension tab. His site is chock full of good reference material so I would suggest bookmarking it for future use.

Old Website Information - For Reference Only - We Don't Sell These Parts

with the car-part site you have to verify that it is not an old listing and the part is still there. I've run across that before with my truck

 

[BaySHO Performance]

How on earth did it get bent so much? From SHO Nut:
Knuckle, rear, LH XF1Z-4A013-AA

None in dealer inventory. You might try www.shosource.com to see if they have one.

 

[myotis1134]

Poor placement of bottle jack.

So I'm on hold with the "local" yard in Fairbanks, and I'm having second thoughts about these guys. First, they have horrible reviews on yelp. Second, they just quoted me $200 for the part, and then whatever for shipping. Does this sound reasonable?

I made a PDF of the list from car-parts.com, and there are a number of these knuckles down in the states which have a way cheaper listing for the part. Does anyone have experience with Pro Fast Auto in Glenwood, MN? They have several knuckles listed at $45. Shipping will probably be an arm and a leg, but I imagine the condition will be better than anything I'll find here.

Can anyone recommend a good yard?

 

[ScotSHO]

I got a front spindle from these guys in August. Worked great. It was off of a 92 SHO, and I noticed they had pictures of the rod shifter in the photos of the car. I emailed them about it, and they pulled it and sent it to me outside of ebay. Great communications; message them in eBay and ask them about the rear spindle off this car.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3353630988...uid=EnWsGMWRQUm&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY