Question about the terms being used...

[layedout72]

Alright, I am reading chassis engineering by Herb Adams, and he has me a little confused...

He is talking about Ball-joint placement, knuckle design, and all of this. My question is this, what is he calling the "knuckle"? He says in the opening paragraph of "Knuckle Design" that "the k nuckle arrangement has a great deal of influence of a suspension design. The knuckle determines the position to the upper ball joint, the lower ball joint, and the steering ball joint in relation to the wheel and tire."

This makes me think he is calling the actual spindle, the knuckle. But I also am aware that there is such a thing as a steering knuckle.

After looking around, I think I may have the term for a "spindle" a little too generic, just maybe.
the site this picture is from says these are spindles

the site this picture is from says this is a "bare knuckle"



So, my question is, when you buy "drop spindles" is that a generic term for the combination of a knuckle/spindle together?




oh and, photos courtesy of i6735189@wsunix.wsu.edu

[DuckRyder]

Most older RWD stuff the Spindle and the Knuckle are the same part.

Technically the spindle is where the wheel bearings ride and the knuckle is the part which attaches to the ball joints and the steering arm is cast into or bolts to.

You pictures above are correct, technically, but look like 4x4 parts.

HTH

[layedout72]

cool. i thought thats how it worked haha.

[fordman]

i thought knuckles was a 4x4 only term. since the spindles on a 2wd are made onto the rest of the "knuckle". the spindle is where the wheel bearing ride though.

[layedout72]

i thought knuckles was a 4x4 only term. since the spindles on a 2wd are made onto the rest of the "knuckle". the spindle is where the wheel bearing ride though.

your probably right, and they may possibly use the term in racing environments. This may be an older book as well, where they were built as two parts, over todays one piece.

[DuckRyder]

http://www.carcare.org/Steering_Suspens ... ckle.shtml

[ICEMAN6166]

those are 4x4 parts in the pics.
spindle refers to the part the wheel bearings spin on, knuckle refers to the part that moves like a knuckle, whether its 2wd or 4x4.

[SmokeyBear]

They refer to them as different parts because they are separate on many applications, even 2wd. Although most are one piece on 2wd there are some applications that have separate knuckles and spindles.