Reaming Bushings

[Mulletwagon]

Getting ready to ream out spindle bushings. Any special procedural cautions ? Any recommended cutting fluid ?

[jetmek]

If reaming them I suggest you only ream 1 bushing at a time...leave the old one as an alignment for the tool. Trying to do both at same time can allow the reamer to go off center.

[JoeCB]

A king pin bushing specific tool is a "pilot reamer". This assures that both bushings are aligned.

Joe B

[Dodge]

Or another option, take them to a machine shop and have them honed to fit.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Dodge

Or another option, take them to a machine shop and have them honed to fit.

Hone is OK AFTER reeming, not instead of. If the bush is say, oval honing will only maintain the ovality whereas a reemer will make it round. I have no problem reeming once the bush is close to size and made round with a reemer but not as a first step. Any workshop that honed them without using a reemer first doesn't get my work!

[Jacksonlll]

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Don't ever turn the reamer backwards. You will ruin it. Just clockwise.

[CWPASADENA]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

Hone is OK AFTER reeming, not instead of. If the bush is say, oval honing will only maintain the ovality whereas a reemer will make it round. I have no problem reeming once the bush is close to size and made round with a reemer but not as a first step. Any workshop that honed them without using a reemer first doesn't get my work!

If you a piston pin hone that an automotive machine shop should have, the finished hole will be round and straight. Much better than a reamer.


The reason that so many reamers were sold is that they were affordable for the small dealers and general repair shops.


A piston pin hone is a very expensive piece of equipment.


Chris W.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Allow me to add my 2 cents worth here. There is some good info and some misleading info here too. A Reamer can do a good job providing it is a properly cared for tool that is in tolerance, -AND is properly used. Therein lies the problem in that most mechanic's reamer has been misused where it does a poor quality job. Quite honestly, the same can be said for a hone.


I have found that most people own a worn reamer simply because they bought it used and the flutes were worn from previous misuse. Then an operator not knowing how to rotate it with a consistent motion causes uneven cutting of the bushing which creates ridges. These high & low ridges of the bushing do not offer good support for the spindle bolt, so the bushing quickly wears out of tolerance again.


I use a Sunnen LBB1660 machine which uses a mandrel that has one stone and shoes to center into the bore. I have multiple mandrels of the correct size so that I can quickly remove material with a coarse set of stones instead of a reamer. Then I use a different mandrel fitted with fine stones to achieve a quality finish. The 12" long mandrels I have use 4 stones end to end that are controlled with a wedge that increases or decreases the cut. There is a carbide Truing Sleeve that is used in conjunction with the stones to ensure all of the stones are cutting the true from end to end.


So the full circle of this is, -a good quality piloted reamer that is in correct tolerance will do a good job on fitting bushings to the spindle bolt. A good quality mandrel in a pin fitting machine will do a great job. Therefore it boils down to determining how good does the pin clearance need to be to meet your goals.


,

[Mulletwagon]

Originally Posted by jetmek

If reaming them I suggest you only ream 1 bushing at a time...leave the old one as an alignment for the tool. Trying to do both at same time can allow the reamer to go off center.

jetmek - great advice. I did it that way today and it worked very well. The bushing cuts were perfectly concentric and the sliding clearance on the pins was less than .001. Thanks

[jetmek]

Originally Posted by Mulletwagon

jetmek - great advice. I did it that way today and it worked very well. The bushing cuts were perfectly concentric and the sliding clearance on the pins was less than .001. Thanks

Glad to be of help...Personally I prefer to hone them on my sunnen machine but not everyone has that luxury...

[Rich in Tucson]

I have them honed by a machinist whose primary job is building racing engines. With the bushings supplied today (I always get them from the same source, a Model A vendor) he has never had to ream before honing, and then depending on the spindle the honing is often very light; some spindles are rejected for better ones. He aims for the .001-.0015 clearance but they may end up at .002-.003. The bigger issue is that new king pins are rarely machined correctly, they are often tapered or banana shaped. I supply him the bearing on the king pin for fitting. He does the best with what I give him, and NOS or NORS kits present fewer problems.

[Ed in Maine]

I personally have done a good jobs and bad jobs on the cars I have owned. It is very disappointing after having gone through all that work and the king pins are too loose right from the get go! Roger on the king pins being out of round. There is no way to recover from poor repro king pins. Many years ago I did use an adjustable reamer. The knives could be adjusted by turning nuts above and below the knives. This way, you could gradually work your way to the final fit. I never have had luck with a fixed reamer going for the final fit in the first pass. Ed

[rustythumb]

anyone know how ford did it at the factory???

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by Ed in Maine

I personally have done a good jobs and bad jobs on the cars I have owned. It is very disappointing after having gone through all that work and the king pins are too loose right from the get go! Roger on the king pins being out of round. There is no way to recover from poor repro king pins. Many years ago I did use an adjustable reamer. The knives could be adjusted by turning nuts above and below the knives. This way, you could gradually work your way to the final fit. I never have had luck with a fixed reamer going for the final fit in the first pass. Ed

"Critchley type" reamer is the reamer with the inserted knives and two collars to pinch them in place. Available at Harbor Freight in (um) acceptable quality but better bought from the source at http://www.chadwickreamers.com/products.php which is a US Company local to me.

We make America great by making each other great. Sorry - almost got political here.

Anyway, the C&T Critchley reamers are available with "extensions" which pilot the bearing. Usually used by electric motor shops that service the old "sleeve bearing" motors - one can use the opposite bearing and the extension to align the two bearings - much as you would want to do on king-pin bushing.



Some king pin reamers have a similar arrangement - but specific to the particular size. And possibly particular to a manufacturer's bushing.

C&T spindle bolt reamers below.



But this doesn't get you past undersize king-pins. Unless you buy the expansion model which comes a tad undersize and you expand up to the looseness you seek.

An automotive shop could be visited for four or five spindle reams for less money than the options above. The only downside to this option.

Joe K

[Kurt in NJ]

Originally Posted by rustythumb

anyone know how ford did it at the factory???

Probably on a boring machine---- in a fixture

[Russ/40]

I have tried the "Critchley type" referred to above, and it seems impossible to get a smooth cut. Ending up with a rough chattering result. How does one manage a smooth continuous cut?

[1931 flamingo]

Save the price of a one time use reamer and hone them. FWIW
Paul in CT

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by Russ/40

I have tried the "Critchley type" referred to above, and it seems impossible to get a smooth cut. Ending up with a rough chattering result. How does one manage a smooth continuous cut?

Concur entirely, the secret to Critchley types is to take a bite of only one or two thousandths. More than perhaps 5 thou and it will chatter.

The fact that a Critchley type the teeth are not "staggered" around the reamer perimeter does not help (Reamer making is in itself an "art." Blades on common reamers are not uniformly placed around the perimeter.)

Joe K