Unsafe K-member!

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Trevor B

Trevor B

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I was looking at the k-member I pulled from a 1973 Dart Sport . I got this car to replace my poor crashed Duster and am using as much as possible from the old car, including my k-member, already full of engine/headers/steering box/whatever. So out came the entire front suspension, steering, etc. Neglected, dirty, and sad.

Anyway, I was pulling the parts off to stash in yet another bin and when I removed the steering box, I found that instead of being bolted TO the k-frame, there were nuts in there. Not welded. Just nuts with washers.

It was no secret that some previous owner had been a "cutter of corners" - there was a nail bent in place of a cotter pin on the left hub's castle nut, etc. But a jury rigged steering box?!?

Or am I crazy and this was something the factory did?
 
The factory did not do that but it would not in itself make it "unsafe." The modern Rams/ Dakotas have several "tabbed" nuts inside the frame to hold various items, including the bumpers, etc, and these are simply a rather specialized nut with a but "tag" on so you can stick / fish it up in there and "impact" it into place.
 
67Dart273 said:
The factory did not do that but it would not in itself make it "unsafe." The modern Rams/ Dakotas have several "tabbed" nuts inside the frame to hold various items, including the bumpers, etc, and these are simply a rather specialized nut with a but "tag" on so you can stick / fish it up in there and "impact" it into place.
Click to expand...
I have seen the bent nail or nothing at all.
 
Used to do that all the time on FWD mopar K frames. The welded nuts that helped hold the steering rack in place would break loose. Used to drill 1" access holes in the other side of the K frame to access the nuts. This part of the K is boxed in. So the access holes would do the trick. Then we would use a metric nuts and lock washers.
 
Not necessarily unsafe, but a pain to work with. Might be able to weld new nuts in place.
 
Do a Google. You can buy various styles of "tab nuts" and "weld nuts"
 
I'm not sure about the later k but if it was the earlier K, he would have had to cut access holes in the K to put any type of nut in there.
 
Nail in a castellated nut is OK, as long as it can't come our because of the dust cap, or is bent at both ends.
 
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