1952B3b23 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Another option is to see if you have a restoration / mechanical shop in your area, that specializes in working on British cars as they had King-Pin's well into the 70's. just a friendly thought. Good luck! Theres a shop not to far from me that is known for doing great restorations on all different kinds of antique vehicles. I just dont know if they would be interested in such a small job or if they'd charge me a lot just cause its more effort than its worth to them. But only one way to find out gotta give them a call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 To me, the king pins are the foundation of a good steering vehical. If they are off, then. . . So I had my old bushing pressed out, new ones pressed in and reamed. My truck drives straight and steers very easy. I have a 52 B3B. What I paid I do not recall, whatever it was, for me, it iwas money well spent. But I'm a novice mechanic so I took no chances on this. I LOVE my truck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 To me, the king pins are the foundation of a good steering vehical. If they are off, then. . . So I had my old bushing pressed out, new ones pressed in and reamed. My truck drives straight and steers very easy. I have a 52 B3B. What I paid I do not recall, whatever it was, for me, it iwas money well spent. But I'm a novice mechanic so I took no chances on this. I LOVE my truck! Very good point, at the same time i could have them clean up the spindles a bit too. They have some ridges on the surfaces where the bearings ride and the brake drum would sit, im assuming this is just from wear over the years. I tried cleaning one of them up with some emery cloth and it helped a little but i can still feel the roughness with my finger nail. I'll post up some pics of what im talking about after work. Plus my thread is lacking pictures lately and i know we all love those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Like you, I looked my spindles over also, and saw some slight diviations. So I just decided to go professional on the entire spindle / king pin assembly. My pro said mine were not all that bad, but I didn't care, new had to be an improvement if nothing else just the peace of mind that accompanies such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Like you, I looked my spindles over also, and saw some slight diviations. So I just decided to go professional on the entire spindle / king pin assembly. My pro said mine were not all that bad, but I didn't care, new had to be an improvement if nothing else just the peace of mind that accompanies such. Did you buy new ones (if so where) or did you have the old ones fixed up by the machine shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) Did not buy new spindles, they should never wear out. The wear is in the bushings. If they are NOT double true: (1) true to themselves and true to the spindle then they may be problematic. Got to be someone in your area who knows how to press and true the bushings. It's not that big a deal, EXCEPT for the accuracy part. When I put my king pins in I oiled them clean the with a very small hammer tapped them down. I would encourage you to take the axle out and put the spindles back on at your work bench. Much, much easier. Good lucki Edited April 5, 2013 by pflaming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Ohhh okay i miss read the earlier post, i thought it said you bought new. I believe my spindles are fine they just need to be cleaned up a little bit. Im going to contact a local shop that does restorations and hopefully theyll take on this small job for me. I plan on doing the work at my bench since i have the entire front suspension disassembled and im in the process of cleaning up the front axle right now. Thanks for the help -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Here are a few pictures of my spindles showing the surface condition of one of them, this one looks to be the worst of the two and is the drivers side. I tried cleaning up the passenger side spindle with some emery cloth and it helped it a little bit but it still feels rough. Maybe some more time with the emery cloth and i could get it close to smooth on the passengers side spindle, but i think the drivers side will take much more work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 I also began taking apart the truck that is going to donate its 5 speed manual transmission to my project. This truck is a '92 D250 Cummins with a Getrag G360. Im hoping to have the transmission out by the weekend, depends how busy i get at work. Then i can bolt it and the bell housing up to the 4bt and really get a feel for how things are going to look. As you can see in the pictures im trying to make my life easier with getting the tranny out so i cut out the floor of the truck. I dont want to have to monkey around with this thing underneath the truck, much rather just lift it up and out. Im really happy to get my project moving forward again, the last month or so has been tough between the flu and very busy at work i've had little time to do anything on this. -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave72dt Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 The only parts that need to be smooth are the surfaces the brgs and seal ride on. Don't worry about the part in between the brgs other than being clean. As long as the brgs don't bind when slipped on, you're good from what I see. Here are a few pictures of my spindles showing the surface condition of one of them, this one looks to be the worst of the two and is the drivers side. I tried cleaning up the passenger side spindle with some emery cloth and it helped it a little bit but it still feels rough. Maybe some more time with the emery cloth and i could get it close to smooth on the passengers side spindle, but i think the drivers side will take much more work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 Thanks Dave. I'll make sure that those surfaces that carry the bearing are clean and the bearing doesnt bind when it goes on. I was under the impression that the entire surface had to be smooth. -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted April 8, 2013 Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 Before installing those bearings, pack them with wheel bearing grease. PUSH the grease into the beaings so they are "PACKED". It's the only time they get greased. Then the first 1/16" inch is most important. I tap the bearing 3-9-6-12 (Clock face positions)to get it on squarely, the I tapped them around and around til they are on at least 1/2 distance. For the last push get a large pipe or the race from the old bearing and tap it on. There might be better ways, that is what my father taught me. FWIW. Good luck. Good bearings and good king pins are the foundation for the steering mechanisms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 Before installing those bearings, pack them with wheel bearing grease. PUSH the grease into the beaings so they are "PACKED". It's the only time they get greased. Then the first 1/16" inch is most important. I tap the bearing 3-9-6-12 (Clock face positions)to get it on squarely, the I tapped them around and around til they are on at least 1/2 distance. For the last push get a large pipe or the race from the old bearing and tap it on. There might be better ways, that is what my father taught me. FWIW. Good luck. Good bearings and good king pins are the foundation for the steering mechanisms. Thanks for the info. I knew about making sure the bearings are well packed with grease before install but your installation procedure sounds like a good one. The king pins and other front suspension components that i mentioned earlier in the thread should be here this Friday. Then i'll be ordering the disc brake conversion kit from "old daddy" and getting all the associated parts for that. Im slowly making progress but at least its something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 I pulled the Getrag 5 speed manual out of my parts truck last night. Next on the list is to pull the bellhousing, clutch, flywheel, etc. then i will be able to bolt it all up to the 4bt in preparation for some mocking up. Stay tuned! -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John-T-53 Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Is that tranny have an OD too? What's is out of? For the king pins, post some pics of the NAPA kit when you get it. I was looking into it but went with rare parts instead when I did mine, beacuse the local NAPA said it would take a long time to get 'em. I had the bushings done at a local old school shop here in town. He honed them, not reamed them on his Sunnen. They came out perfect, and the bushings were sized for .001" clearance with the pin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 The tranny is out of a '92 Dodge D250 Cummins, its called a Getrag G360. It was used in first generation ('89-'93) Cummins powered trucks, and 5th gear has a ratio of 0.77. Sure i will post some pics of the king pin set when they come in. NAPA told me they would take about 7 days to come in but its been longer then 7 days and still no king pins... i need to call them up and see whats going on. A guy that i work with told me he knows of a shop that will likely ream them for me. He is having the king pin bushings replaced on his 1913 Buick (i think its 1913 maybe 1911) so hopefully they will do it for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowhereman Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 how did you make out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 how did you make out? Im done pulling the tranny out of the '92, had some problems with a couple of the bell housing bolts that didnt want to come out without a fight but i won that battle. Im eager to bolt it all up to the 4bt so that i can see how it looks, i'll post pics when i do so. I recieved all the front suspension parts that i had ordered from NAPA including the king pin set, it looks like the right set and i'll post up pics of that too. Anyone have any experience with threading the spring shackle into the rear eyelet on the front leaf springs? I've never done this before so any tips would be helpful. Thanks -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 (edited) Threading the rear bushing: Now those are tricky. You what to end up centered so if you start the threading too soon or too late you will arrive off center. So I figured it out by trial and error with out the spring attached. I cannot recall, getting too old to remember. Seem as it threads into the frame it similtaneously threads IN (pulls in) the shackle. Edited April 22, 2013 by pflaming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 At least on my car, which uses that style shackle on all four corners, the threads on the inside and outside of the bushing are the same count per inch. So you line everything up where you want it and then thread the bushings on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Thanks guys. Hmmmmm i think i need to grab the new shackles and old leaf springs and see if i can better understand how to put them in cause im still pretty darn confused on how to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggdad1951 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) If you mean the threading of the bushings, what I did was make a wood spacer for where I wanted the shackle to end up and then started tto thread the bushing in and it worked out about perfect, way easier than trying to help them in place (especially if there is any real load) and trying to thread it on. Edited April 23, 2013 by ggdad1951 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Maybe this will help. Its from the car side but I think it may apply to the trucks too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggdad1951 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Maybe this will help. Its from the car side but I think it may apply to the trucks too. actually in the truck manual I think they used the same page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted April 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 If you mean the threading of the bushings, what I did was make a wood spacer for where I wanted the shackle to end up and then started tto thread the bushing in and it worked out about perfect, way easier than trying to help them in place (especially if there is any real load) and trying to thread it on. Currently i have the front suspension all apart so my leaf springs are just laying on the garage floor. Is this something thats much easier to do on the bench top with the springs in a vice? Or should it be done on the frame so that i can get everything lined up right? Making a wood spacer sounds like a good idea. Tod: As ggdad1951 said they have a similar schematic in the truck book which i believe ive seen in passing but never really looked at it good. Thanks for posting that up makes it more clear on how the shackle is put together. -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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