Need Help: K-member

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74Dart318

74Dart318

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Hey guys,

Been tearing into my front suspension and I thought the pivot shaft on the passenger side looked crooked. Well I finally got it all pulled apart and sure enough it was.

The part of the k-member that the pivot shaft slides into broke free from its welds and caused the hole to become an oval.

I can get some pictures tomorrow in better light. Looks like I need a new k-member because I don't have the skills to fix it.

What are my options for a replacement k-member that will allow me to use stock suspension components and the stock engine mounts?

This is for my 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger 318

Thanks in advance!
 
the usually show up in the for sale section for less then $100.00 plus shipping
(that is used of course)

my suggestion to you would be to get out the old welder and make sure you reweld the whole thing
box in the steering box section, and if you ever plan on putting in a large capacity oil pan, notch it and weld it now
 
It's an easy fix with the k-member out and clean. What part of AZ are you in? There are some good Mopar people in some parts. I could fix it, but it would cost you about $100 for shipping ($50 each way) plus the cost of the fix.
 
Jim Lusk said:
It's an easy fix with the k-member out and clean. What part of AZ are you in? There are some good Mopar people in some parts. I could fix it, but it would cost you about $100 for shipping ($50 each way) plus the cost of the fix.
Click to expand...

Jim, I am in Phoenix. I am planning on pulling it anyway. Do you know of anyone in the Phoenix area that I could reach out to for this?
 
If there was one in the sale section I would be jumping on it :)

Or if QA1 had one for the later spool motor mounts I would probably just order one of those.
 
Here is the best picture I have so far. The sleeve that holds the LCA pivot shaft broke free and it actually fell down in the k-member so I need to get a magnet to pull it out. But you can see the hole it much larger since it broke free and I didn't know and drove it like that for awhile.

Explains some of the poor handling I guess!

pivot shaft kmember.jpg
 
You could find a local welding shop to repair that. You wouldn't be the first.
 
The trick is to get it back in the same place (or very close). The last few k-member I have built got cut open below the pin tubes for extra welding on the inside. This is the only weld on the back end of the tube. They are fully welded in the front, but if the back breaks loose the front will crack like that. I have also seen less weld than that...
DW213185.JPG
 
Jim Lusk said:
The trick is to get it back in the same place (or very close). The last few k-member I have built got cut open below the pin tubes for extra welding on the inside. This is the only weld on the back end of the tube. They are fully welded in the front, but if the back breaks loose the front will crack like that. I have also seen less weld than that...
Click to expand...

That is amazing. Gotta be proud of the American built cars we had back in the day right ;)
 
What is amazing is how well they held up for the assumed lifespan on the vehicles. Every k-member I do now also gets all the seams welded.

The last k-member I built had never had one of the strut rod bushing plates welded on. That one came out of the car in two pieces. It's all good now.
 
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