New defective king pins out there

supergnat

supergnat

Senior Member
I needed to replace the king pins on my 28 leatherback and ordered a spindle rebuild kit. After cleaning the spindles and removing the old bushings I gave the new bushings, new king pins, and my original spindles to a machine shop to install and hone the bushings and match the king pins to the spindles. When I attempted to install the spindle and king pins on my 28 Leatherback yesterday I encountered a problem. The opening at the top of each of the king pins was too small to accommodate the brake shaft assembly which slips into the large round opening at the top of the king pin. Both king pins had the same problem. Both of my brake shaft assemblies easily slipped into the top of the old king pins. Since I had already paid to have my new king pins matched to the new spindle bushings I enlarged the openings at the top of the king pins to accommodate the brake shaft assemblies using my Dremmel tool. The openings on the problem king pins appear to be about .010 undersized.

I just sent an email to the supplier suggesting that they check and purge their stock. If anyone is about to use a newly purchased kit be sure to check the fit of the brake shaft assemble first.
Supergnat
 
Good tip, but, just to play devil's advocate, are your brake shaft assemblies original? It is possible they were replaced in the past and that's the part that's oversized with oversized holes in the old pins, making your new king pins actually correct? I know that's unlikely, but I haven't had enough coffee yet.
 
I think my brake shaft assemblies are original as was one of my spindles. I don't know for sure as I am new to this. The large opening on the new pin is approximately 1.432 inches. The opening on the old pins are about 1.445 inches. I say approximately since I purchased the microneter used and don't know how accurate it is.

I didn't think this was a critical dimension so I used a dremmel to correct it.
Supergnat
 
Supergnat,

Are you sure that your brake shaft ball wasn't wore to 0.010" oversize diameter? This would account for the non-fitting issue.
 
Mitch said:
Supergnat,

Are you sure that your brake shaft ball wasn't wore to 0.010" oversize diameter? This would account for the non-fitting issue.
Click to expand...

Mitch,

Please tell me how you get male parts to wear oversize. I could really use this information.

Joe
 
I checked both brake shafts and their diameters seem to be consistent (not mushroomed which might account for an increase in diameter). I actually don't think that could happen to this part.

I also had trouble finding spindle rebuild kits kits. Brattons and Synders were out. They said they had some bad parts and didn't expect the new inventory until sometime in June. Unfortunately I never asked what the problem was with the bad parts.

I was anxious to get my car back on the road and found a Calif. supplier with inventory. Naturally, due to time zones, I haven't heard back from them regarding my email last night.
Thanks for the responses.
Supergnat
 
Ok so where did you get them? Last time I talked to Snyder's they did not have a date and have been out for some time.
 
I found them at Sacramento Vintage Ford. I'll let you know what they say when if they reply to my email. I think it was Brattons who told me about the parts problem and gave a mid June forecast. I usually deal with them since I receive my parts the next day and they have quality items.
 
Joe Way,

If the female socket end wears out to a larger circumference, the male end would likely wear out to a larger circumference to match. Thus large diameter on the male end. Think about it.
 
The "issue" I have been hearing about with repro spindle-bolts is the that flat milled area for the locking pin is not correctly located, and that the pins need to be "Dressed" to work properly...
 
Mitch said:
Joe Way,

If the female socket end wears out to a larger circumference, the male end would likely wear out to a larger circumference to match. Thus large diameter on the male end. Think about it.
Click to expand...


I' m not getting this either... but I'll think about it some more while I'm driving my '28 to Wilkes-Barre & back this afternoon...
 
What I should have said was larger radius, which would only apply to a ball and socket situation. Even then, the outside diameter could not get larger. Since the arm fits inside the spindle cup, the change in radius would not matter, it still should have fit inside, allbeit a sloppy fit.
 
I have had sets of king pins which were tapered by about .0015" on both pins, on at least 4 sets over the years. All from the one supplier. They were all replaced with good sets. (I had to pay the freight back and wait to get more). I'm sure they knew they were faulty, and me being a long way from them, they thought they could get away with it. One set even showed signs of surface rusting.
 
You guys have me laughing my *** off. Reminds me of the guy who gave his wife toilet paper to enlarge her breasts. He said just rub it between them. It's been working on your *** so far.
 
Darn, I've been following this thread and, while accepting that female parts tend to wear larger, I'm still anxious to learn how my male parts can wear larger in size. This is like the Holy Grail!
 
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