reeming king pin bushings

CSArno

CSArno

Senior Member
whats involved in reeming king pin bushings? cant be too hard. what is used for a tool and where could i get one?

Thanks,
Chris
 
Look up critchfield reamer on eBay, that's where I got mine, I'll have to wait till I get home to give you the size.
Or maybe it's Critchley?
 
When I was a kid, we knew a guy who was a mechanic at the local Chevrolet (there's that word again) dealer who did our king pins. He used a brake cylinder hone(!) and we never had a problem. What I do remember is that he seemed to take an awful long time to do it, and we got quite impatient. He was also the "go-to" guy at the dealership for the guys with the hot Chevy's (dual quads and FI cars).

However, if you have access to a reamer, use it!.
 
I pretty simple with a good quality adjustable reamer. But, they can be expensive. If you can find a local automotive machine shop or regular machine shop that has the right reamer it might be less expensive than buying a reamer unless you plan to do more of them. Mine spindle bushings cost about $40.00 to have them reamed to size. But, since then I found that a friend had one, so I don't need that shop now.
 
I think you would have a better job done by taking it to an automotive machine shop and having them honed on a Sunnen pin hone with the proper King pin mandrel.

Just my 2 cents.

Regards,

Brian
 
i see that Harbor Fright has a set for $70. i dont expect them to be the most acurate thing in the world so what if i get the bushings close with those and then hone them to final fit? i would rather do it myself than drag it somewhere. bushings are cheap enough if i screw up.
 
If you use an adjustable reamer to fit king pins, you will need a pilot for the reamer to keep the two bushings in alignment. Without the pilot, you will most likely have to ream the bushings oversize to get the king pin into them. If you don't have a reamer with a pilot, I would take them to a machine shop and have them fitted with a Sunnen hone.
 
i have always had mine honed with the sunnen machine, perfect fit. however i recently had okie joe drop an axle and he wanted the spindles to check camber, and said he would ream the bushings. well, ok i thought. he set them very tight and said they will wear in. well maybe, he's been doing it forever, but too tight for me. so i have a product called time saver, its made for final fitting babit bearings on my model T & A motors. very good stuff, for those who have not heard of it, its the same theory as valve lapping compound except its made for soft metals, and it will not keep cutting forever, it will disolve to nothing if you dont get it all cleaned out, so safe in motors. you mix it with oil to a paste, then spread it on the parts and work them till it fits. it will only remove what it needs for clearance then stops. very good stuff ! my pins slide in perfect just like the sunnen did it. yellow timesaver for soft metals, and green for hard metals. supposed to have been invented by the navy for fitting the prop shafts thru the hull with out leaking. sorry for the long rant for those who already know of the stuff ! skip
 
If you just want to steer down the road nicely and don't need a bunch of high tech equipment to buy you might want to try what I do.... I have done 3 of them on old fords and a buddy down the road that has a fleet of elderly dump trucks has done in my shop and declares them as 'like new' Try this. A wood dowel slotted for a strip of sanding belt... After driving in the new bushings, take the time to be precise. After six of these we now pound a 12 point socket on the dowell and drive with a socket extension in a drill. Ream up and down, down and up like with a cylinder a cross hatch pattern. Keep trying and when it is right the king pin will drop in with gravity and a little oil.
 

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Sunnen hone with a kingpin hone.
 

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I've probably done several hundred kingpin jobs on big trucks in my life, so early Fords were like toys.
The Sunnen honing machine was always the choice over reaming, for the finish and bore concentricity. Photo enlargment of the surface of the bushing showed that reaming left peaks and valleys on the surface. The peaks would wear off fast since there was reduced surface contact with the kingpin, resulting in premature clearance. The Sunnen honed bushing left a virtually smooth finish with more surface contact area with an infinite number of microscopic grooves to hold the grease.
Clearance should give a "palm press fit" of the pin into the lubed bushing.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. GB, I like the ingenuity on your setup! I'm sure it works well. I pulled the front axle this morning a dissasembled everything. I'm going to take the spindles down to Uncle Walt Dupont and have him do them on his Sunnen honing machine. Have to go there anyway. Always a fun time to go visit.
 
I have an adjustable reamer that has a pilot bushing to keep everything in line. It also came with a tool steel rod that is sized at .816 (v. the .814 finished sized).

The idea is to spin the rod through both bearings at the same time while chucked in a drill. Using an abrasive like Time Saver you are honing the bushings to take off any high spots from the reamer.

I believe its made by Snap-On. I'll look at it when I get home.

I also have one of those shade tree reamers /bushing driver tools that you use to find at swap meets.

From what I understand, this is the method Vern Tardell using to do king pin bushings. I don't doubt the Sunnen hone is an accurate way to go, but if it's good enough for Vern it's good enough for me.
 
I bought my reamers for 28-48 cars and one for big trucks years ago from JC Whitney. They are non adjustable and have a button that goes with them to drive out and in the bushings. Have used them for years with no problems. Sure a lot cheaper than the $100 up tools advertised today.
 
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