Undersized Kingpins .... NEW

SUHRsc

SUHRsc

Well-known member
Has anyone else run into suppliers selling undersized kingpins?

I am working on a '36 Sedan that is getting '37 spindles and Lincoln Brakes.

The Drake Kit that was brought to me "seemed" quality made...
I put the bushings in and reamed them to the correct factory size the same as I have always done.

I dropped the new kingpin in to test the fit and it was loose!!
I thought I somehow cut the size too large.... Nope!
The NEW kingpins measured in the neighborhood of .805 to .806... about .0050+ too small

So I called Bob Drake and was told all the others are the size that I measured and they've been selling them for years with no complaints... why didn't I measure first and make it match the pin....trying to explain that having a small kingpin in the axle wedged off to one side didn't seem like a viable solution to me... I finally got him to agree they were wrong but he didn't seem to care!.... I gave up and called Dennis Carpenter to have theirs measured... A much nicer employee at DC then at Drake told me theirs are right around .8 ".8 what".... ".8 is what I'm getting"..... then told me in metric its 2 and a hair, or something like that..... no micrometer in sight... but I learned the manufacturer and that they're from the good ol' USA! (that'll help them grow!)....

So I was pretty frustrated and talked to a friend who recommended the early ford store in California has good ones....

Does anyone else have any recommendations as to where to go for the CORRECT size kingpins?

To me this seems like a part that should be correct...am I wrong?

thank you for any insight anyone can offer.....

I don't mean this as a major negative overall against the companies that I talked to... I just expected a little bit better from them (.0050)

Edited... my mistake typing .050 instead of .005
 
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So what king pins are you going to use, '37? I have a pair that I believe to be '37-'41 king pins that I just measured at .812".
 
What I think you have are Lincoln spindles that use a .858 king pin IIRC. They could be used on a Ford axle if the k/p hole in the axle was reamed or bored for the larger diameter, but also you would need to correct the camber because the '37-'41 Ford round back spindle has a king pin inclination of 8°, or is it 8 1/4°? and the Lincoln has a 4° KPI.
On the other hand, if those pins from Drake do measure .806 that sounds like they will afford a lot of clearance when reamed with the typical .814 reamer. As an aside to all of this I prefer having k/p bushings honed, just like having an engine honed with the pistons in hand to get a perfect fit.
 
I've used lots of kingpin kits from So-Cal with no problems I ream the bushings in the spindles to fit the kingpin and they have always fit the axle (repro or Henry) just fine.
 
If the measurements are off, then can't you kind of wonder about the steel its made from?

I have after market kingpins in my truck. Tight, dennis stuff. No issues.

Thinking of reworking my 36. Good info.
 
I've used many kingpin sets from both Chassis Engineering and Speedway with no problems.

I've believe Drake's phone guys are trained to use this standard first response: We have never heard of that problem before!
 
Zach,
All that aside........the king pin must fit at least reasonably snug in the axle.
The tapered retaining pin only locates the the king pin in the axle vertically, yikes !
My only clerk/ customer experience with Drake was as you stated, it was
my good fortune that Bob hisself came on the phone and could not have been more
gracious. That 30 years ago.
Charlie ny
 
Thank you very much everyone! I do have 37 Ford spindles and what was to be a 37 to 41 kingpin set.

I'll look into one of the other places.... I'm sure glad not everyone is selling sets produced at the same place!

Thanks everyone!
 
SUHRsc said:
Thank you very much everyone! I do have 37 Ford spindles and what was to be a 37 to 41 kingpin set.

I'll look into one of the other places.... I'm sure glad not everyone is selling sets produced at the same place!

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

The Early Ford Store has NOS long right side tail light stands.They were used on the trunk back sedans.
 
deuce lover said:
The Early Ford Store has NOS long right side tail light stands.They were used on the trunk back sedans.
Click to expand...

I think the left hand drive Touring Sedan/trunk-back '35's have a long tail light stand on the driver side to space out the license plate holder and have the plate clear the trunk. They have a typical short '35 tail light stand on the passenger side. I'm pretty sure Zach has the same but wants to have the symmetrical look of two long tail light stands. Another reason might be to display two license plates.
The long right-side would have been on right hand drive cars.
 
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I reread it and I sure wasn't clear with the statement I made in my other post. What it sounds like you did was ream with an .853 reamer, which is Lincoln size. Ford pins are only .812 and the reamer around .813/.8135. Have you tried a new pin in the axle, or mic'ed one of the old pins? Will the old pin fit the bore in the axle with just a bit of clearance? And what size is an old pin?
 
VeryTangled said:
I think the left hand drive Touring Sedan/trunk-back '35's have a long tail light stand on the driver side to space out the license plate holder and have the plate clear the trunk. They have a typical short '35 tail light stand on the passenger side. I'm pretty sure Zach has the same but wants to have the symmetrical look of two long tail light stands. Another reason might be to display two license plates.
The long right-side would have been on right hand drive cars.
Click to expand...

Maybe so.The long right hand side brackets appear on EBAY from time to time and they are USA advertisers.How I know the Ford Store has them is I found a dealer stash of 30 NOS 35,36 tailite brackets in MI and told Bill at the store about them which he bought.The long and shorts were in that stash.
 
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Fordors. I used a .8135 reamer and the old pins fit it's size and the axle.... the problem is the Bob Drake pins are too small.

My mistake in mistyping the .005 as .050
 
.005" sounds much better. Maybe the manufacturer figured the under sized king pins would fit the pressed in bushings without needing reaming ? In any case, in hind sight, one should always measure before reaming, but that's water over the dam.

I have a set of adjustable reamers which allow for any variances from stock and get a nice fit - "Loose, mit no shake", as my old German machinist used to say.
 
I understand now. It's too bad that vendors never check what they are selling, and even worse that they don't care to make good on poor quality.
 
Tagman, I agree I should have probably measured.... but it has never been an issue as its a standardized size and the axle is always the same.
 
I figured you missed that zero. If you want my pins you can have them for the shipping cost. I only have the pins and not any of the other parts.

(FYI: They came in a box of stuff when I purchased my truck project in 1999. They still had the receipt from Little Dearborn with them. As I remember they were purchased in the late 70's so they are probably a good quality.)
 

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