kingpin install

therealjoeshmoe · Post by **therealjoeshmoe** » November 21, 2008, 4:44 pm

so is a person suppose to be able to push a king pin in the axle by hand or is it supposed to be pressed in with a press? the ones i have can not be put in by hand..

joey

Garbz · Post by **Garbz** » November 21, 2008, 6:10 pm

Joey did you ream the new bushings if they are brass?

New installed bushings need to be reamed to fit the kingpins.

Garbz

racerx1699 · Post by **racerx1699** » November 21, 2008, 6:11 pm

Once I had mine reamed they slid togeather by hand.

Gritsngumbo · Post by **Gritsngumbo** » November 21, 2008, 7:33 pm

Ok, since he opened the discussion, I'll ask the question:
How do you get the bushings in? Do they have to be pressed in?

blackagatha · Post by **blackagatha** » November 21, 2008, 9:36 pm

and why dont they just "fit"... but have to be reamed???

don morris II · Post by **don morris II** » November 21, 2008, 9:58 pm

the bushings are pressed in the press makes the hole a little smaller plus the top and lower bushing need to be in line with each other that is why they are reamed

fmartin_gila · Post by **fmartin_gila** » November 22, 2008, 9:30 am

Not just a reamer, but a KingPin reamer to assure that the bores remain aligned when done. May have to hunt down an "old School" type shop in order to find a mechanic who knows how and has a proper reamer.

Fred

don luster · Post by **don luster** » November 22, 2008, 10:14 am

Most any machine shop can ream them to proper size. Don't know about today J C Whitney did carry some for the do it your self crowd. I still have mine from from the seventhies for my 40 coupe. It worked like a charm. the original tool for doing this job was the Manzel T53T-3110-D IF YOUR truck isF100-f-250. drive the pin out from the top. I prefer the bronze bushing two to one over the plastic teflon one. They never seemed to last very long mileage wise and had to be replace again but just my opinion. Maybe I didn't grease the often enough.

DCarr · Post by **DCarr** » November 22, 2008, 7:38 pm

It's also nice if you can find an adjustable reamer- you can start a little small and work your way up to a perfect fit.

Garbz · Post by **Garbz** » November 23, 2008, 2:07 pm

For 65 up you can buy derlin bushings that do not need reaming. However the life of these are short compared to bronze bushings.

Fred, I have an oldskool reamer for the ford pins, And can also do them at industrial chassis. I have an aluminum push made to get the old out, and push in the new.

They also need to be put in in a certian spot to meet the Zerk fitting and the grease hole.

Once reamed to the correct size they should slide in fairly easy with minimal play.

Garbz

BarnieTrk · Post by **BarnieTrk** » November 24, 2008, 9:33 pm

Joey,
Call/ask at your local HD truck repair & tire shop. Many of the semi-truck/bus/cargo or dump truck repair shops also do alignment & suspension work. Many of those bigger trucks run kingpins yet. They should be able to help or direct you to who can.

It isn't cheap, but if you go with the bronze ones & grease them regularly (depending on the how many miles you drive per month/year; but for a daily driver, I wouldn't be afraid to hit them with 2 pumps of grease every two/three months), you won't need to replace them again!

Worked for me!
BarnieTrk

therealjoeshmoe · Post by **therealjoeshmoe** » November 25, 2008, 9:17 am

ok the acutal pins are suppose to slide into the axle right?? or are they to be pressed into the axle then the bushings reemed to fit the king pin?? hell ive never done this before.. lol

I have the aim drop beams and the king pins they sent cannot be pushed into the axle just wandering if i have the right king pins...

BikerDude · Post by **BikerDude** » November 25, 2008, 11:25 am

I bought an adjustable kingpin reamer off ebay for $40 and did it myself. Just have a strong bench and vise to hold the spindle while you grunt away at it...work your way op slowly. If doen right the kingpin will have some resistance while being inserted into the bushing but you should not have to hammer it at all. Yes you will have to have the bushing pressed into the psindle first.

don morris II · Post by **don morris II** » November 25, 2008, 11:51 am

first bushings are pressed in to spindle, then bushings are reamed to fit the pin, the pin should slide through spindle freely, the pin should go through axle with minimal effort light tap with brass hammer, use some oil to help slide together. hope this helps