Some King Pin Questions

TudooR31

TudooR31

Member
How tight should a new king pin fit in new reamed bushings? The in-line reamer we used is .812. It seemed like quite a bit was removed from bushings. All shavings were removed and grease pumped through zerks & king pins & bushings coated with grease. I could press & wedge the pin into the 1st bushing by hand about 1/8", then needed a rubber mallet to get them in the rest of the way. Needed the mallet to assemble pin into spindle putting car back together. There is 0 side play on the pins now. Used one spacer under thrust bearing (open side down). Greased all zerks & got overflow coming out all joints. 1st test drive, steering is quite stiff and does not center after turn. With weight on wheels I cannot rotate either top bushing lower cup. Was I just used to sloppy worn king pins or do I need to do over & lap pins into bushings with valve grinding compound? Anyone find new king pins over sized requiring this extra work?
 
One typo, I cannot rotate either top bushing OR lower cup with weight on wheels.
As a side note I noticed there were no tension springs or spacers behind end plugs on tie-rod ends. Could this have an immediate effect on steering once play is taken out of king pins?
 
Your pin are fitted way to tight. First you should clean the axel hole so the pin will slip up and down in it. I've always hatted the reamed pin bushings, it's almost impossable to get a good fit. I have mine honned in a Sunnen machine. The shops should have a long hone for king pins. The pin should slip right through bushing form eather end with no slop. About .0005 clearance. Walt
 
It sounds like the reamer was improperly handled/abused in it's life. There may be other issues but it never should have been assembled if the king pin couldn't be slipped through the spindle on the bench, and turned freely with a little oil.
 
If after assembley, you find one bushing grease hole mis-aligned, don't PANIC! Drill an 1/8" hole through the bushing & on a little bit into king pin. Turn wheels back & forth several times, the sharp edges of the hole in the king pin will "carve" a slight grease groove in the bushing. Blow it out, put the zerk fitting back in, and with a little persistance, you CAN force grease in it. An average grease gun can pump over 2,000 lbs pressure!
I've used re-threaded grease fittings this way to pump apart stubborn wheel cyls & caliper pistons. (Danged old Dunlap calipers+*^#@$^%@*%$) Bill W.
 
Marco Tahtaras said:
It sounds like the reamer was improperly handled/abused in it's life. There may be other issues but it never should have been assembled if the king pin couldn't be slipped through the spindle on the bench, and turned freely with a little oil.
Click to expand...
Marco,
That's the guy that stole Bill's reamer that he stuck under Vermin's tire so he didn't roll out of his motor pool & into the street!!!:eek::eek: Bill's Dog
 
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