King Pins Nylon Or Brass

[lalkie64]

52 B3B Looking for information on using nylon or brass bushing for the king pins.  Rock auto has both.  Are there king pin bushings that do not have to be reamed or honed besides nylon?

[Jerry Roberts]

So they don't ream the nylon ling pin bushings ? I like the nice solid brass bushings that do need to be reamed . 

[kencombs]

35 minutes ago, Jerry Roberts said:

So they don't ream the nylon ling pin bushings ? I like the nice solid brass bushings that do need to be reamed . 

Me too.  But will probably use plastic just because of the low miles I'll put on it.  They'll last longer than me.

[Tooljunkie]

Nylon is not a good choice. 
to each his own. 
there were nylon injection kits for king pins way back when, and only used as a temporary measure. 
pull knuckles and have a machine shop ream them for you. Not a big deal. 

[kencombs]

4 minutes ago, Tooljunkie said:

Nylon is not a good choice. 
to each his own. 
there were nylon injection kits for king pins way back when, and only used as a temporary measure. 
pull knuckles and have a machine shop ream them for you. Not a big deal. 

 

Nylon will work for me.  More important is don't get the cheap kit with thrust washers.  Get one with thrust bearings.

[Los_Control]

years ago when I was a manager in a retread tire shop.

I looked on in awe as they replaced a brass screw block on a $250k machine.

 

Like a dumb ass, I asked ... why are you using brass to replace that?

The engineer explained, the brass block cost $2k to replace, the screw shaft cost $5k to replace.

The brass block is a sacrificial piece for the machine.

 

Just something to think about when replacing parts on our old cars.

Nylon or brass, just think about future issues.

[TodFitch]

Nylon will cold flow over time if a load is applied. So just sitting there with the weight of the vehicle they will go bad. No way in heck would I ever use nylon king pin bushings.

 

Not a big deal to ream brass bushings and if you can’t do it yourself that should be a very cheap operation at your local machine shop.

[NiftyFifty]

Brass being reamed has a better chance of a nice fit, I’m inclined to think nylon would leave a lot of room for fit 

[ggdad1951]

brass, do it right, do it once.

[RobertKB]

4 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

brass, do it right, do it once.

 

Ditto!

[lalkie64]

Thanks for the response.  The majority of other sites indicate not to use nylon because it does not last.  I expect to use brass.  Thanks Larry

[lalkie64]

I have found a moog 8453b king pin set that indicates it has steel bushing.  Do these need honing?  Mostly I have seen brass bushings on nylon bushings.  Larry

[billrigsby]

NYLON, never heard of such a thing?

Use brass and be done with it!

[lalkie64]

Still asking if steel bushings need honed  or reamed?  I purchased a Moog set 8453B Pin size- .875 iD split bushing size .868 OD split bushing OD size 1.003. Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks Larry

[Tooljunkie]

That is a difficult question, as the condition of knuckles is unknown. Split bushings should go in easy and shaft can be tested for fit. 

[NiftyFifty]

2 hours ago, lalkie64 said:

Still asking if steel bushings need honed  or reamed?  I purchased a Moog set 8453B Pin size- .875 iD split bushing size .868 OD split bushing OD size 1.003. Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks Larry

I haven’t seen a set that didn’t need reaming, so I’d say very likely 

[maok]

Apparently when the bushes are press in they then need to be reamed to the correct sized because there is a reduction in the diameter.

[Tooljunkie]

6 hours ago, maok said:

Apparently when the bushes are press in they then need to be reamed to the correct sized because there is a reduction in the diameter.

Yes, as the bore where bushings go in can slightly vary. Once knuckle is off, it can be taken to a machine shop for reaming. Or, buy a reamer and do it yourself. They arent cheap, as a king pin reamer uses a guide to keep both bushings in line.