Wheel Assembly
A wheel assembly for a vehicle includes a knuckle having an upper end and a lower end. A bracket is mounted to one of the upper end and the lower end of the knuckle by a plurality of fasteners. A ball joint is mounted to the bracket and configured for attaching the wheel assembly to the vehicle. One of the knuckle and the bracket defines a boss and the other defines a bore. The boss is slideably disposed within the bore in slip fit engagement. The boss transfers a load between the knuckle and the bracket in both a vertical direction along a king pin axis and a horizontal direction along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
1 . A wheel assembly for a vehicle, said assembly comprising:
a knuckle having an upper end and a lower end spaced from said upper end;
a bracket mounted to one of said upper end and said lower end of said knuckle and defining an aperture for receiving a ball stud within said aperture; and
one of said knuckle and said bracket defining a boss and another of said knuckle and said bracket defining a bore with said boss in slip fit engagement within said bore to transfer a load between said knuckle and said bracket both vertically and horizontally with respect to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
2 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bore includes a cross section defining a shape and wherein said boss includes a cross section defining a shape complimentary to said cross sectional shape of said bore for mating with said cross sectional shape of said bore.
3 . An assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said cross sectional shape of said bore and said cross sectional shape of said boss include a circular cross sectional shape.
4 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said boss includes a diameter and said bore includes a diameter between the range of 40 microns and 120 microns larger than said diameter of said boss.
5 . An assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said diameter of said boss is at least 20 mm.
6 . An assembly as set forth in claim 5 wherein said diameter of said boss is at least 25 mm.
7 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bracket includes a body with said boss extending from said body along a central axis.
8 . (canceled)
9 . (canceled)
10 . An assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein said body and said boss are integrally formed.
11 . An assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein said knuckle defines said bore.
12 . An assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein said boss extends from said body of said bracket a boss length and said bore extends into said knuckle a bore distance with said bore distance greater than said boss length.
13 . An assembly as set forth in claim 12 wherein said boss length is at least 15 mm.
14 . An assembly as set forth in claim 13 wherein said boss length is at least 19 mm.
15 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bracket defines a plurality of fastener apertures extending generally perpendicular to said knuckle.
16 . An assembly as set forth in claim 15 further comprising a plurality of fasteners with each of said plurality of fasteners slideably disposed within one of said plurality of fastener apertures and in threaded engagement with said knuckle.
17 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said knuckle is manufactured from aluminum.
18 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bracket includes an upper bracket mounted to said upper end of said knuckle and a lower bracket mounted to said lower end of said knuckle.
19 . An assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a wheel hub rotatably mounted to said knuckle.