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Replacing king pins


Normspeed

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Mine are not real sloppy, but there's a little up and down play on one side that should be shimmed. I'm thinking if I take them apart to shim, may as well put in new pins and bushings. I've never done kingpins. The manual talks about special tools to install bushings, then reaming the bushings, etc.

Is this a job best left to a shop, or is it simpler than the manual suggests?

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Norm,

I replaced the kingpins in my car. It wasn't that difficult but there are two things that come to mind. First, there is a pin that locks the kingpins in. It is tapered and will only come out one way. It's pretty small and often so covered with grime you can't see it. I was trying to drive my kingpins out and couldn't figure out why they wouldn't come out. I never saw this small tapered pin. The other thing is that the bushings have to be line reamed. There are two bushings per kingpin. I was able to press the new bushings in without much trouble, but they do have to be line reamed at a shop. Otherwise, not so bad. I had the control arms apart at the time and those really gave me a tough time. I don't think you'll have to deal with them much aside from releasing the kinpin assembly.

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Here's the kit I used from Napa. Hopefully will last longer then the first one I had from somewhere else. I won't badmouth them because it possibly wore out too soon because I had worn out uprights. I took the kit and my 2 spindles to our trusted machine shop and picked them up all ready to go the next day.

kingpins.jpg

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Michael, actually ALL proper king pin sets, geniune or aftermarket SHOULD be fine, they all should include the 2 kingpins, 4 brass/bronze or steel backed bushes for the upper & lower holes in the stub axle, 2 kingpin thrust BEARINGS(about3/8" high the go under the spindle), 4-6 steel shims that go above the spindle, between it & the stub axle, a pair of kingpin locking pins that lock the kingpin to the spindle so the newly installed stub axle pivots on the unmoving,locked kingpin and 4-8 flat welch plugs that are used to seal the upper & lower exposed kingpin ends from dirt, etc............some sets may have new grease nipples also........I personnally have always hada machine shop, or professional mechcanic remove the old worn bushes and install and ream the new ones to the kingpins.......then I have installed the pins, etc on the car myself.......also its always a good idea to make 100% sure that the side opening on the installed bushes locates in line with the grease nipple on the stub axle.....makes it much easier to get grease in that way.......lol........regards, andyd

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could you facilitate insertion by heating the kuckles in the oven, and by puttig the bushings in the freezer, then putting them together. Maybe this would lessen any distortion, from pressing them in or like u hamb fisted guys using an old socket ad brass hammer.

The oven might also soften up the under coatney so it would scrap off easier. Just remember to put the knucles under any cake you may be baking.

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It's probably true that by the time you press the bushings in, the fit isn't quite so loose anymore. I was told that the reason they have to be line reamed is because if they're even a little out of line, one or both could bind on the kingpin while taking turns at speed (weight, centrifugal force, etc.), which would freeze your steering. You crash your car, then can't find the problem because in the absence of all that force, the kingpins now turn fine.

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could you facilitate insertion by heating the kuckles in the oven, and by puttig the bushings in the freezer,

I've heard of this before but my brain just doesn't understand it.

I would think the knuckle would expand when it is heated making the hole in the middle smaller.

I would think you would put both parts in the freezer to shrink both of them.

BTW... the toolkit I have has a drift pin to drive out the old bushings and drive in the new ones making the whole process fairly simple.

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The sets I have had have usually allowed the bushes to be a tight fit over the pins before the bushes were installed BUT by reaming them after installation to the exact size specified in the factory specs you then have kingpins that A, fit and B, allow the grease to move between the bushes and pins, not enough grease and the bushes/pins will gall, too much clearance and you are back where you started from, sloppy steering, etc.......a proper installation & reaming of the bushes is a cheap insurance policy for me.........andyd

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Jim, I ain't and engineer nor have I studied much engineering, but heated metel expands equally in all directions unless it is constrained by a force = to or > than the amount of espansion. So if the piece of metal has a hole in it, the metal moves away from the hole.

That's why heatig a frozen fastener works, the heat helps breaks the frictional bond but also since the hole is fractionalls larger than the fastener threaded into it, it gets bigger with heat and loosens the connection. The bolt because it it constrained in one direction will actually get longer instead of gaining diameter.

I remembe in Physical science class ther was a welded metal ring and a metal ball mounted on woode sticks. At room temperature the ball would not pass through the ring. Heating the ring gave it enough clearence to pass through. Like wise cooling the ball to below freezing did the same. So heating the assembly into which another is to be inserted, and cooling the assembly which is to be inserted will in may cases provide the clearence to ease the process.

from another site;

steel expands .000057" per inch per degree of temperature change above 75 deg F. So, if you have a disc which measures 2.000" diameter at 75 deg F and raise the temperature to 275 deg F the disc will measure 2.0228".

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Today I ordered the kingpin kit and a new inner tie rod end from RockAuto. When the parts come in I'll spend some time staring at the kingpin area until it reveals its secrets to me.

With only one loose tie rod end, I can notice the tendency to bump steer and to swerve in a good crosswind. I also have an occasional thump or knock somewhere up front, usually when turning a corner at low speed. Hoping it's just the tie rod end.

When I used to live in Joisey, and they had vehicle inspections, seems like the inspection guy would raise the front up, and pry against the bottom of the tires with a large pry bar. I presume he was looking for loose ball joints or king pins. Is that the test? What would I be looking for, a vertical movement at the tire?

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but heated metel expands equally in all directions unless it is constrained by a force = to or > than the amount of espansion. So if the piece of metal has a hole in it, the metal moves away from the hole.

I remembe in Physical science class ther was a welded metal ring and a metal ball mounted on woode sticks. At room temperature the ball would not pass through the ring. Heating the ring gave it enough clearence to pass through. Like wise cooling the ball to below freezing did the same. So heating the assembly into which another is to be inserted, and cooling the assembly which is to be inserted will in may cases provide the clearence to ease the process.

Hmmmm... Again, my brain tells me that from your first statement, the hole would get smaller. If you had a Cherrio shaped piece of metal and heated it, it would expand. The outside would get larger and the inside would get smaller.

But your physics experiment shows that my brain has it wrong again.

Thanks for the explanation.

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