Description & Operation: Knuckle
Rear knuckle used on this vehicle is made of a high strength aluminum alloy. See Fig 1 . The rear knuckle has machined legs for attachment to lower control arm ball joint stud, two lateral links and a trailing link. The attachment of the knuckle to the ball joint stud is by means of a tapered stud on the ball joint. The stud of the lower ball joint is secured to the rear knuckle using a flat washer and a lock nut. The knuckle has a trailing link bushing pressed into it. This bushing is replaceable. The rear hub/bearing is mounted in the center of the rear knuckle using 3 mounting bolts.
The rear knuckle moves up and down with the tire and wheel under jounce and rebound conditions. The lower control arm and lateral links control lateral movement of the knuckle while the trailing arm controls fore-and-aft movement. The rear knuckle serves as the attachment point for the adapter used to mount the caliper for the rear disc brakes and the rear hub/bearing. The disc brake adapter is mounted between the rear hub and bearing and the machined surface on the front of the rear knuckle. The adapter is attached to the knuckle using the same attaching bolts that hold the hub/bearing to the knuckle.