Hot Rods I am looking for a Stainless Steel King Pin & Hardware Kit

I am going cross-eyed searching the web for a Stainless Steel King Pin & Hardware Kit for 1932-1936 Ford. I found one for '37-'41 but that doesn't really help. I am hoping someone here will know who makes them.
TIA,
Chris

 

Why would you want something like that?

 

Let me just say I had a HORRIBLE experience with them. Bought them from Stainless Steel Brake Corp. when my club took a tour of their plant. I installed them in my 41' Ford convertible and the first test drive I immediately experienced a terrible wheel shimmy starting at about 35-40 mph. I checked everything, tie rod ends, drag link, pitman arm, steering. Nothing seemed to help. After several summers of dealing with this I installed a new set of conventional king pins. Shimmy GONE. And the car steers easier, which was the whole point of the SS/needle bearing king pins in the first place!

 

I'm not looking for needle bearings. Simply stainless rather than plain steel parts.

 

Not sure if it’s the same with cars
But in forklifts and equipment , steeraxles with bushed kingpins, as long as they are properly maintained ( just cleaned and greased( seem to last almost forever and take much more of a beating the lime sized units with needle bearings on the kingpins.
What I see happens is the wheel takes a shock, either a big pot hole, side load impact whatever and the cage that holds the needle bearing together falls apart, and if not caught quick turns into a big friggin job.
I would find the best kit you can and just install it, keep it cleaned and greased and be done.

Sorry you posted just as I was. Can I ask why the preference for an ss king pin?

 

Not just the pin but all of the hardware. I have the axle, wishbones, Tie rod, and spindles black powder coated and just want all of the other stuff to bling.
As I said I found a kit for '37-'41. I just need the earlier kit.

 

I know you want stainless but wouldn't it be easier to chrome plate the tops of the regular steel pins and know they are "good to go"?

 

I did the purchasing for a fruit juice/apple sauce plant for a number of years and stainless doesn't have any better wear resistance than the proper grade of steel. The reason it is used is corrosion resistance. Stainless wears just as fast if not faster than steel when you run it through a bushing or roller bearing running against it.
You could take your new out of the box steel samples to an industrial machine shop that works with stainless shafts and have them turn you out a pair of stainless king pins easily enough if you want to spend a few hundred bucks for a pair of king pins just to be able to brag to your buddies that you have stainless king pins.

 

Stainless steel and regular steel usually don’t play very well together. Stainless tends to gall easily when to two rub against each other. The 300 series of stainless will not corrode but cannot be hardened by heat treatment although cold working will increase hardness and strength somewhat. The 400 series of stainless can be hardened by heat treatment but is only corrosion resistant and will rust. If your reason for wanting stainless is cosmetic as others have said chrome plating is probably the answer.

 

Worth reading this: https://www.industrialmetalsupply.com/blog/carbon-steel-vs-stainless-steel/

Real basic, but outlines issues. Personally, I'd never use stainless in a structurally important area of a build. Sure, it looks nice, but generally there's other trade offs, especially if you're not real cognizant of the alloy you're using.

 

As I have said before it is not just the SS ping but the entire SS kit. Here is the '37-'41 kit I found. http://www.yogisinc.com/index.cfm/p...ct_id=651/category_id=-1/mode=prod/prd651.htm

 

Chris, do you want a 32 kingpin with the mechanical brake socket on top? I've never seen such a thing in stainless.

If you just want to use your 32 spindles with a flattop kingpin then you could probably use a 37-41 kingpin and grind a new notch on the shaft in the correct position. But, this won't provide the proper support for the bearing, as a stock 32 kingpin has that big top which is stronger and can hold the weight of the car onto the bearing. Some guys use flat Torrington bearings between the bottom of the axle and the spindle, which would put the weight down there and a 37-41 kingpin could then be used.

 

The ones that I had for a 34 years ago were not really stainless. Only a 'Cap" to the pin was stainless that was slightly pressed into the pin that was partially drilled. So, if it's just the look that you are after it should be easy enough the have that cap machined from stainless. This cap was simply a "T" shaped piece. I believe that I bought the complete kit from the long gone Deuce Factory. Do a Deuce Factory search on the HAMB and you will find names/contacts that may help you. Good Luck, Eddie 478-967-3362

 

I've never seen an early model 32/36 SS kingpin kit only 37/41?

 

As others have stated using SS for a kingpin isn't a good idea. If your looking for SS kingpins for a mechanical brake system, that accepts the brake cam, your not going to find it. Sure, SS bar can be cut to the kingpin diameter but SS "galls" easily and with the limited arc of the front wheels, the life of the kingpin would be short. I don't know the Rockwell hardness of an original kingpin but finding SS with the same specs will be hard. As Dirty Dug asks why would you want something like that?

 

SS a bad idea

 

All the supposedly SS king pins I am now using are steel pins with a SS cap, bearings and stops, not complete SS pins. I used to get them from the Deuce Factory and Now So-Cal.

 

Yeah, cmon guys, nobody would ever make the whole pin out of stainless.

 

We can't use stainless in an aircraft for anything but cosmetic hardware, handles, trip etc. I can't imagine it would be strong enough to hold your wheels on. Krylon32 is right, steel with a polished cosmetic cap.

 

They may be simply a SS cap on the pin. However the rest is SS. My car has juice brakes so the mechanical brake stuff isn't needed.

 

Thank you KRYLON32.
So-Cal has the kit I am looking for.
http://www.est1946.com/sskingpinkits.aspx

 

So basically you are buying exactly what you said you didn't want. That SoCal kit is for a later spindle, not the 32 you asked for.

Be aware the bearing in that kit won't fit between your axle and a 32 spindle.

 

So basically you are buying exactly what you said you didn't want. That SoCal kit is for a later spindle, not the 32 you asked for.
Be aware the bearing in that kit won't fit between your axle and a 32 spindle.

Thank you for pointing that out. Being as So-Cal didn't put in any years I could only look at it and think it was right. When did the spindles change? Must have been '37? So If I use later spindles on my '32-'36 axle will I run into any other problems? Can I use this kit with the '32-'36 bearing?

 

If you want to use 37-41 spindles on any passenger axle from 28 to 48, that kingpin kit would be perfect. A 32-36 kingpin bearing should be the same, but in those years they were up above the spindle since the spindle gap was narrower. Might be helpful if you saw some diagrams so you understand where the parts go: http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/...pics/Flathead_Suspension_1933to48-passngr.jpg

Note part number 3123 is the bearing and it goes above spindle on the 32-36 and below the axle on 37-up.

 

If your not using the mechanical brakes the So-Cal king pins and locks will work but you'll not be using the SS bearings on a 32-36 spindle. You will need to shorten the kingpin and use a needle bearing kit like the one sold by the Dennis Lacy at his V8 store. I've done it several times. I like the 32-36 spindles as they give an extra 1/2 inch of drop.

 

I really don't know what spindles are on the car now. I has '46-'48 brakes on it. When I get it torn down I'll post pictures of the spindles.

 

SS outside of a 316 alloy is probably not a good idea for the application. We started using this alloy at work recently for bushings, Nitronic 60. It has good strength and great anti-galling properties. Yield strength is double that of 304 and 316 alloys.
https://www.hpalloy.com/Alloys/descriptions/NITRONIC60.aspx

 

316 stainless is not that much different then the other 300 series such as 302 or 304. It does contain more nickel which gives it slightly better corrosion resistance. 316 stainless or any of the other 300 series stainless steel cannot be hardened by heat treatment it doesn’t have enough carbon content. The 400 series of stainless steel has more carbon content which is why it can be hardened by heat treatment but is also why 400 series will rust.

Nitronic alloys cannot be hardened by heat treatment either. They have very limited hardness however cold working will increase both hardness and strength. Nitronic alloys have high percentage of chromium, nickel and molybdenum which make them very tough, corrosion resistance and ideal for bushing that are very wear resistant. there are several different nitronic alloys. Nitronic would be a very poor choice for a king pin but great for a bushing.

 

now i'm being even MORE confused....

 

If you want the top of your king pins to bling or what ever, why not do the old hot rod thing of putting silver dollars of he year of your birth affixed to the top of the king pin.

Warren