Knuckle rebuild

Ok, so I tore into my front axle today. On the whole I was very surprised at the shape everything is in - nothing major.

However on my right steering knuckle it's developed a bit of a "detent" of sorts - while in the center, it takes a bit of effort to get it to start moving in either direction. Once it's moving it's fine. What should I be looking for as I take it apart?

 

sounds like the bearing is worn. would replace ALL the kingpin bearings to be safe.

 

Be sure to replace the races as well.

 

Yup, mine did the same thing, and when I took it apart I was quite surprised how bad the kingpin bearings were. At very least, pull them out and check them....

 

Ok, both knuckles are apart. On the side that was bad, both bearings *seemed* to be ok at first glance, but after cleaning them up I found some chipping on the bottom bearing.

Funny part, though, is on the other side - where the knuckle moved freely and seemed to be fine - one bearing race was ruined, the whole thing fell apart when I opened it up! I'm glad I decided to take them both apart - I was on the fence about it!