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Love for the '55's?


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Ok, I got Olddaddy's disc brake kit, and decided I'd get things going for my daughter and I to start to put together (I'm bored at home, while she's at work.. nothing wrong with doing some work for her, right? :) )

The first steps were pretty easy, wheels off (driver's side, righty loosey, weird how they did that back then), then LOTS of prying to get the drums off the shoes. Man, it took a lot of effort to turn those wheels.. my gas mileage should be double by the time I'm done!

I didn't see any write ups on HOW to get the spindles off the axle... so I'll post what I found. Two bolts to the right and left of the spindle accessed from inside the drum assembly come off. Then the two bolts on the bottom of the spindle accessed from the rear of the backing plate. You might have to pound those towards the outside (away from the engine).. I had too.

Now comes the stuck part... I found the locking clip for the kingpin bolt, and unscrewed that. I thought there were dust caps on the top and bottom of the spindle for the kingpin.. but no matter how much I punch to one side or the other, they don't budge. I'm thinking of taking the axle off the springs and just hauling the hole thing down to my machine shop to 1) get the king pins redone 2) drill and tap the holes I need for the spindle kit. Any ideas?

Marc

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Edited by 4msfamly
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Looks like the same setup as my '50. Remove the lock bolt from the center of the king pin. Remove the dust cap (yes, you were right) by drilling a hole in the center, screw in a sheet metal screw, and pull it out. Then use a drift/punch and hammer to drive the pin out the bottom. The bottom dust cap will be forced out by the pin. Then you can just take the spindles to your machine shop to have the drilling/taping done, and have them replace the king pin bushings and ream them to size while they have it.

Merle

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Looks like the same setup as my '50. Remove the lock bolt from the center of the king pin. Remove the dust cap (yes, you were right) by drilling a hole in the center, screw in a sheet metal screw, and pull it out. Then use a drift/punch and hammer to drive the pin out the bottom. The bottom dust cap will be forced out by the pin. Then you can just take the spindles to your machine shop to have the drilling/taping done, and have them replace the king pin bushings and ream them to size while they have it.

Merle

yah...what he said! Altho I took off both dust caps on mine to make it slightly easier to push out the king pins. You can get the king pins and bushing kits from NAPA, just be sure to get the brass bushings, not the cheapo plastic ones.

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For those doing this in the future... you can see the two top bolts to the left and right of the spindle. The next photo shows the questionable dust caps, and then the spindle bolt with lock tabs. So how does the kingpin come out?

Marc

I have a 57 and I'm working on removing the spindles for the brake upgrade too. Mine are the exact same as yours. I cleaned my spindle up but can't see the pin. If you search "spindle removal" on this site there's a couple threads. Everyone else can seem to find their pin just fine. The one side of our spindle has that bolt for "steering stop" that I thought covered the pin but I don't see where it comes out on the other side. I'm thinking of doing the conversion with the spindles on as my king pins are fine.

Also if you are getting a new radiator I need one for my truck. If you are looking to sell it let me know. Also if you figure out how to get the king pins out let me know. Those caps are confusing too.

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Looks like the same setup as my '50. Remove the lock bolt from the center of the king pin. Remove the dust cap (yes, you were right) by drilling a hole in the center, screw in a sheet metal screw, and pull it out. Then use a drift/punch and hammer to drive the pin out the bottom. The bottom dust cap will be forced out by the pin. Then you can just take the spindles to your machine shop to have the drilling/taping done, and have them replace the king pin bushings and ream them to size while they have it.

Merle

Are you saying all that is needed is to remove the bolt. There is no pin that needs pounded out that locks the king pin in place.

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Unless they changed something it should just be the one bolt, with a lock tab, that needs to be removed. There is a flat spot on the pin that this bolt locks against to keep it in place. Once the bolt is removed, and the upper dust cap/plug, the pin should drive out. Mine even came out fairly easily. Apparently the old farmer that had my truck kept the king pins greased good enough. they didn't have much play but I wanted to freshen them up anyway.

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Well, no luck as of yet... those "dust caps" just don't want to come off! They seem like they're made of lead, because they're seem "slightly" soft metal, but they just aren't budging. I drilled a hole, but the screw just strips out. Then I tried to put a nail in it and pry it up... that just bent the nail! Arrgh. I tried banging on one edge with a screwdriver to try and get one end to pop up.. but it's just bending down a bit but not popping up on the other side.

I'm walking away from it for awhile. I think I'm going to go buy a 3/4" deep socket and just take the axle off the springs, and take the whole enchilada to the shop if I can't figure a solution out. BTW, the spindle only moves approx 1mm when I lift it up/down by the spindle.... should I even bother having the kingpins redone?

Then if the axle comes off... I should rebuild the spring shackles... see, the can is opening!

Marc

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I used a screwdriver that I shoved in the hole I drilled....but you HAVE to get it UNDER the cap and between the cap and the king pin, it should then just pry out. If it was over seated it might be in there pretty tight.

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Well, I decided to drill a slightly bigger hole, to really get a screwdriver in there. I had to use a fairly big one, as I thought I'd break the tip off of my smaller one. FINALLY, they popped off.. this after they soaked overnight in WD40.

The kingpins drove out the bottom really easy. I used one of the big bolts from the drums, and drove it down without taking the bottom caps off. The kingpins actually looked pretty good! Just slightly scored, but the bearings where really gunky and stiff. I cleaned them up, then decided to just get new stuff. I'll have the machine shop fit the new brass caps too.

I forgot that the steering rods had to be drilled out too... so I took the whole steering assembly off. I'll replace the tie rod ends... but really want to replace the other arms (pitman or drop arms?). I haven't found a source... does anyone know where I can get them? The ball joints on them don't seem serviceable.

My daughter was miffed that I didn't wait for her to come home to work on it.. I told her I was just "prepping" for the fun assembly work ahead. :)

Our truck's front end looks pretty naked!

Marc

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My caps came off easy. Neither side was pounded down flush though. One edge was sticking up and I just smacked it with a chisel. the passenger kingpin came out great. The drivers side did not budge. I took the axle off so i can get it pressed out. I even heated up the middle part to try and get it loose but nothing. Hopefully it comes out. worst case scenario i have to drill it out and get a new one.

Actually I just checked autozone's website and The bushing kit comes with new pins anyway.

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My caps came off easy. Neither side was pounded down flush though. One edge was sticking up and I just smacked it with a chisel. the passenger kingpin came out great. The drivers side did not budge. I took the axle off so i can get it pressed out. I even heated up the middle part to try and get it loose but nothing. Hopefully it comes out. worst case scenario i have to drill it out and get a new one.

Actually I just checked autozone's website and The bushing kit comes with new pins anyway.


don't know if you'll be able to drill it out. I *think* they are hardened.

It should press out with a little help. make sure to get the kit with the brass, I think they have a kit with plastic.
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Two quick notes... 1) the machine shop is backed up... in may be a a week or two before I get the spindles and steering arms back.. I hope not, but I have a buddy who works there... so I'm hoping he gets to it sooner.

2) Charlie (Olddaddy from Rustyhope.com) is great! I didn't post, but the spindles I have on the truck (unknown to me) were really 3/4 ton spindles. The spacers I got were a bit too small in diameter to fit properly. Not really his fault.. I thought my 1/2 ton had the 1/2 spindles.. I didn't notice the difference until I got the drums off. Charlie mailed me some new ones out pronto! I had a couple of choices of vendors (one VERY local), but only Charlie took the time to email answer my prepurchase questions.. so I went ahead with the guy with the best service.. and I'm glad I did. Thanks again Charlie!

Asking again... other than tie rods (which I'll order from Roberts motorparts), does anyone know of a vendor for replacing the steering arms that go from the steering box down (is this the pitman arm)? I'd like to replace the whole thing with new joints (there's a tad of slop in mine).. but they don't seem servicable... I'd have to replace with new, but have hit zero with a source of replacements.

Marc

Edited by 4msfamly
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Check with your local auto parts store. I know Napa offers tie rod ends and drag links for the B-series trucks. They likely do for the C-series too. '

The Pitman arm is the piece that attaches to the steering gear shaft. The drag is the rod with ball joints on either end that connects between the pitman arm and the steering arm that connects to the spindle.

Merle

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Before you take your new pins, bushings, and spindles to the machine shop, test fit the pins in the axle ends. There shouldn't be any wiggle or wobbling of the pin. If there is any play you'll need to have the eyes reamed to fit an oversized pin. Mike

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  • 5 months later...

Well, we're still at it. School is (rightfully I suppose!) taking A LOT of my daughter's time, so it's been a slow process of work. To date, we rebuilt the kingpins, and found new a new pitman arm off of Ebay for the steering. The old tie rods were REALLY frozen in the draglink, but after a lot of muscle, were able to get the new tie rods on. In order to shorten the drag link to compensate for the new spindle adaptors, we had to screw both tie rods in all the way... the left one was JUST longer than the original, so I took my dremel and hack saw out and shortened it by about 1/3" to make it fit all the way to the drag link hub.

The spindle adapters, caliper holders, new bearings and discs are on....

My only "ARRGGH" moment was that the old brake line broke off when I tried to unscrew the old rubber hose from the metal line to hook up the calipers. Soooo.....

I think I'll be putting in a new master cylinder and new brake line sooner than later! :) It looks like a Jeep MC might fit.

Here's some pics of the progress so far...

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From the pictures I'd say your mechanic is left-handed. Yes, please replace all the old lines. They corrode from the outside and inside. What may look good on the outside may be ready to blow under an emergency application. Hoses too. Keep the updates coming.

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Guess I never stopped to look how she was using her arms... I've found LONG extensions and torque wrenches to be her friend. She hates watching me come behind and just giving "one more tug" to cinch things up! :D

Another question... I hate the "while I'm there" things, but I never stopped to really look at the gearbox of the truck. But now I am, as I'm looking at the master cylinder... two questions...

1) What's this spring supposed to attach too? I think its supposed to help with the clutch pedal, but not sure where it's supposed to attach too... it's just hanging there (ignore the foil.. damn squiruls hiding stuff!)

2) Is this the right bell housing for a T5 transmission? To recap, I've got the 270 V8. Looks like there's mounting ears off of the bellhousing.

Marc

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  • 2 years later...

I know it has been few years since anyone posted here but wanted to say I found everyones comments here very helpful.  Made this part of the tear down phase very easy last night.

 

I checked out several vendors for disk brake conversions.  However, the rustyHope kit is my path this coming January when I mail my spindles and steering arms off to him to have that work done also.

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Edited by Phil363
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  • 3 weeks later...

We're still here!  Been lurking for some time.  Finally got the brake conversion done.  Stops well!  Also replaced the radiator with a used one from a Isuzu Trooper... the bad part is that one of the tanks split, but the good news is that it fit fairly well.  The problem is that I'm at a cross roads with the truck, and trying to figure out which way to go.

 

It drives, but it drives like a '55 truck... no power steering, lots of turns lock to lock, no syncro mesh on the 3 on the tree, need a new rear axle, etc etc.  I'd like to daily drive it, but in the city, I need better than a good farm truck.  The fumes from the Poly 273 sure are lethal too...

 

Been thinking of doing a Jag IFS swap for the front, a "modern" LA 318 or 360 with a newer trans, and a rear axle swap.  As much as I love the Poly engine, the amount of money for a possible rebuild, trans adapter, etc... I'm finding 318 with trannys for about $600 on Craigslist easy.  

 

I'm also been thinking of just buying a SWB Dakota and swapping the cab / body over onto that and calling it done (and eventually putting a newer 318 or 360 in that).

 

Not sure if either is less work from the other... which has been paralyzing my moves.  

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