Kingpins

[MrTube]

Looking into changing king pins on our A.

I'm a bit confused as to the process. Do only the pins wear, or do both the pins as well as where they ride in wear?

My assumption is you buy oversized pins and machine or ream where they get pressed in to.

My other question is I just spent a while looking in the Bratton catalog and could not find any trace of king pins, is there another name for them?

[Jason in TX]

The heaviest area of wear is usually the bushings in the spindles. If you are doing it yourself, you are going to need a bushing reamer for the spindles. They pop up on ebay fairly often. Just be sure to get the right size. (.812) Be careful of some reamers that parts houses sell that seem to be a little oversize and then you have loose kingpins again.

[Glenn C.]

The king pins supplied are only of one diameter. It is the bushings of the spindles that wear. New bushings must be pressed into the spindles, and the spindles with the new bushings installed must be "pin hole honed" on a shop machine (preferred) or reamed using the proper sized parallel king pin reamer.

[Mustang]

http://www.brattons.com/prodtype.asp...ageHistory=cat

Keyword “Spindle”

[MrTube]

Ah I see.

I found several things including kits in the Bratton's catalog. Looks pretty straight forward. However I noticed all of them say to ream to .814. Bratton's also has a .814 reamer. If I buy these bushings, reamer, and pins from them would it all work out? I would assume the pins Bratton's have match the rest of the kit?

[Jason in TX]

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Ford kingpins are .812 Brattons is selling a reamer that is 2 thousandths oversize. That is a tiny measurement, but we are reaming something that will be a wear point.

Dick Spadaro sells the correct reamer.
http://www.dickspadaro.com/king_pin_reamer.htm

However, you can find old tools on eBay from the 30s - 50s for much less. I think I paid something like $30-40 for my old Ford reamer. Works like a champ with a vice and a wrench and a little 3 in 1 oil to keep things smooth.

I would bet that you could get away with just buying the spindle bushings and re-using your kingpins and bearing if it's ok.

[Russ/40]

.814 is fine, and Bratton's has good stuff. It will all go together. The key thing, is the two spindle bushings need be perfectly alligned to each other. The reamer needs to reach the second bushing to allign with the first when reaming. It's not rocket science. Some swear by having a machine shop hone them, claiming greater accuracy. Likely, the cost of the reamer will pay for the job in a machine shop. Some front end shops use the wrong reamer, too short, and being .001 off will cause binding.

[Jason in TX]

Russ is correct that your reamer end MUST reach the second bushing before the main flutes start reaming the first bushing, so you need one with a longer end. I also agree that for the price of a shop doing it for you, you can own the tool and do it yourself again, and also on your friends cars.

[Russ/40]

Simultaneous posts Elrod!

[Jason in TX]

I know. I was agreeing with you. Hence the "Russ is correct that..."

Glen C posted the same thing I did in my first post, but that is fine with me. Repetition is good for learning.

Mr Tube. I sent you some eBay auctions to look at in your Private Messages box.

[Kevin in NJ]

The answer is you must first take your king pins out and measure them.

They could be loose just from poor fit or reamed bushings.

Check your axle ends for snug fit. If the kingpin has some serous movement in the end of the axle then your axle is bad.

Once you press in the new bushings you are better off having a machine shop align hone the bushings to size.
Reaming works, but will always leave high spots as they do not do a perfect cut. These high spots will hold the kingpin tight at first, but quickly wear to leave a couple of thou of looseness. If they are align honed then they will be round with no high spots and will stay tight much longer.

If you go with the repro kingpins and you have repro brake pins then make sure you do not have any binding action. I found that there was some slight binding with my NOS kingpins and a repro brake pin I test fit. I have heard that the repro kingpins do not have the best holes in the center for the pin, but have not confirmed this. It is wise to check all the fits anyway.

BTW, while you have the car this far apart, are your front brake wedges known to be good and equal or just good used? I ask because I believe this is a potential problem area the can be overlooked. The common recommendation is to just file the front wedge smooth and use them. The problem is you can end up with different wedges from side to side. This may give you a problem that is not something you can adjust out. The repro wedges are pretty good and a matched pair might be a good thing.

[Kurt in NJ]

Using the reamer was one of the mistakes I made, the reamed bushings are loose, they were loose by 10,000 miles, on my 46 I honed them, they were still tight as when I first did them at 25.000 miles.

[Mustang]

A company I worked for in my youth sent all bushing install
work to a machine shop who burnished all bushings after
pressing them in, and then did the reaming and the final honing.
Over kill perhaps, but never a kickback from our customers.

[van Dyck]

Kevin in NJ is right on the money! Also, micrometer check the diameter of the kingpin for #1. roundness, #2. undersize, and #3. taper. They must come in at .812" in all three catagories. If not, send them back - they are not worth installing. Demand the correct dimension pins. They happen to be the same price as the bogus pins.
How do I know? I have encountered undersized and tapered new repro-ed pins.

[skip]

skip. Nothing to it. We did a King Pin change for the club's Spring Clinic in less than four hours and a couple dozen donuts and cups of coffee. .

Again. Hold control key down and poke the + key to enlarge the print so tired eyes can see it. Or print it.

[john in illinois]

Honing is the way to go. You get a sliding fit on the pin.

[Purdy Swoft]

The bushings in the spindles wear first then the pins. Sometimes you can replace the bushings and ream to .814 if the pins are not worn. mostly you will need to replace both. I have never heard of oversize king pins. I would check with Berts in Denver, They are experts and may have new old stock king pins,

I got my king pin reamer from Bratton in the early ninties.

[bettlesr]

When I bought the kingpins for my car in the late 90's, the new ones had a slightly triangular shape. I could feel it with my fingers when I twisted them with the other hand. I also used a reamer which besides being slightly over size did not make a perfectly round hole. Turning the king pin in the spindle had slightly tight and loose positions. There is about 1/4" movement in and out on the top of the tread.
I am in the process of replacing mine with NOS TRW kingpins and having the bushings honed to size. Also going to replace the steering arms with rebuilt ones with new balls and replacing the teflon seats.

[DJ S]

I'm currently entirely rebuilding the front axle on my car. I had not yet gotten to the kingpins but I'm beginning to sway towards having a machine shop machine my bushings as opposed to using the reamer my club has.

[Mitch//pa]

Thats what i do. Sunnen hone

[Mitch//pa]

My machine shop hones them,,, i was not there

My king pins are round.

[Synchro909]

Don't leave the bushes too tight hoping that you will get more life out of them. The steering will be stiff and the car will wander all over the road.
Don't overt tighten the cotter pins (I think you guys call them tapered lock pins) that hold the king pin in the axle eye. I have seen that done and the eye was stretched oval. It's impossible to not have a wobbly wheel it that happens without shrinking the eye again and not many places will even try that.
As for oversized king pins, if they are oversized, they won't fit through the eye of the axle.

[Dodge]

Do hone them. King pins can vary in the same set, not by much a few tenths but with
honing you get them spot on. They also vary some from brand to brand.
Don't just use the non adjustable reamer.
My 2 cents.

[100IH]

Possibly the last comment about reamers, remove only one bushing, then install the new bushing and ream it. If the opposite bushing is removed, the guiding plug at the end of the reamer would be a very sloppy fit for the Alignment Plug that guides the reamer. After reaming the first hole, then replace the second bushing and ream it. The Sunnen hone sizes both bushings at the same time - perfectly aligned and sized for clearance to match the size of the spindle bolt.

[Kevin in NJ]

Nothing like an old thread coming back to life.

The original thread was last posted to in 2010!!

[supergnat]

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When i rebuilt my front end I took my new kingpins and original spindles to Schwalms and had them fit them for me. They did a great job. It is good to have a tight front end again.
Supergnat

[Chris_AAFord]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

My machine shop hones them,,, i was not there

My king pins are round.

Mitch, what machine shop in the area do you use for the hone?

-Chris

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Chris_AAFord

Mitch, what machine shop in the area do you use for the hone?

-Chris

Hi Chris,

http://speedequipcorp.com/home.html

[Chris_AAFord]

Thanks Mitch!

[Larry Jenkins]

Call Tom Jordan at Snyders. He will walk you though the proper sequence.