So today I decided to put out new king pins in my 3in drop axle on my 59' f100 and it was the hardest worst most fucked up day I have ever had working on a car hahaha I started the mission at 12 noon and just finished around 10pm the bushings kept getting pushed out when I hit the king pins in. So much more b.s in between but I got it done hours later hahaha what's the proper way to put on knew king pins?
Did you install a bushing kit as well or just new pins. If you installed new bushings you would generally need to run the proper size reamer thru the bushings to size them to the pins. If you dont the fit will be tight and could be the cause of a bad day. If the old bushings were coming out you may want to replace them as well. Dave
after the new bush's are installed in your stub axles .......they have to be reamed to the exact size of your king pins ...........then its a push in fit..........no dramas
That would explain every thing!!!! Haha yes I did put new bushings in with new king pins this was my first time every changing king pins and never new that there was more steps then just hitting every thing in to place. Next time I will get and use the reamer. Thanks a lot guys. Next time I do some thing that I haven't done before I thing ill ask the good ol' fellas on the hamb thanks again.
So... how did you end up getting everything installed? You should never have to "hit" your kingpins into place and there is no good way to fake it if you don't have the proper tools. I'm guessing your spindles don't move without an insane amount of effort? Bushings can be had cheap. Knock those out and start over.
I think what the guys are trying to stress is that by driving the kingpins in you may have already damaged the bushings........in fact, they probably are damaged. When they are honed it should only take a little push with your hand to seat them all the way. Chevy kingpins do not require honing, Fords do. Another area that frequently gets messed up is getting the grease hole in the bushing aligned with the groove in the spindle. If it isn't indexed right grease can't enter the area between the bushing and kingpin. Not trying to give you bad news, but you will have to keep an eye on the kingpins to see if the hammering causes them to fail quickly. I agree with Kevin, it might take a Gorilla to turn the steering wheel due to the bushings binding from damage. Don
Sorry but this is defiantly not a "Haha" Moment... You not only caused yourself a world of grief today but tomorrow when you drive it you will be mistakenly cursing the ever loving name of poor old Henry Ford because your steering is really facked at speed..... ....And by "speed", I mean your steering is now stiff and jerky/stuck at any speed between zero and moving and/or whether going in a straight line or trying to turn. You may as well have seized king pins which is just as bad as worn out king pins if not worse. You will have to undue the mess you have done and reinstall new bushings, ream them and let the new king pins drop gently into place -just like they are supposed to do-. The good news is that your steering maybe currently facked but hopefully you haven't done any long term damage or at least none that a book, a reamer and a new set of bushings can't fix. Live and learn. by the way, no it will not "get better" the more you drive it jmho moe .
A properly reamed bushing is as good as it ever needs to be. I doubt Ford ever reamed the bushings at the factory. The service manuals show how the reamer is used. Of course if you don't have a reamer, having them honed at the shop might be a more practical approach.
Wow I didn't realize how much of a mess up I did.... Thanks for all of the advice guys I guess I'm ordering new king pins and bushings today. How can I find out how far I need to ream the bushings? Or If I take them to a machine shop does any one know about how much it will cost? Will like Moe said live and learn I'm glad I posted up this thread thanks again.
I generally remove the axle and do all this on a bench or in a press, sitting under a fender beating on it is the hard way. I hone or ream the bushings to a tight fit and burnish them with the pin before reinstalling the spindle on the axle. You would be surprised how much easaier this job is on the bench.
Ok guys I need a little more help last time I ordered the king pin Kirk form mac's auto parts for 44 bucks I found the king pin kit on rock auto .com for cheper but they have different sizes can any one help me out with the right size to get please? MOOG Part # 8458B .9215" x 6.990" king pin; metal bushing; Front $28.89 MOOG Part # 8455B010 .8690" x 6.540" king pin; metal bushing; Front $33.79 MOOG Part # 8458B010 .9315" x 6.990" king pin; metal bushing; Front 36.99 MOOG Part # 8455B .8590" x 6.540" king pin; metal bushing; Front
Someone else will have to tell you which kingpin yours is, I just don't know. But I suggest you take the spindles to a local machine shop and have them install and hone the bushings to size. To do them properly the hone has to index on both bushings so the bore is absolutely straight. (Think rifle bore). I know lots of guys do their own at home, but for as infrequently as we do them, I just take mine to a machinist who knows how to do them and let him have at it. Usually about $50 and the pin slides right down the bore like it should. I do press out the old bushings and press in the new ones on my own hydraulic press, but I do that only so I know the grease hole in the bushings are in the exact spot so grease can flow through. What all of us think happened when you hammered the kingpin in is that the bushings are now galled onto the kingpin and instead of the kingpin turning inside the bushing, the whole assembly will be spinning inside the spindle, wallowing it out possibly. Not the end of the world, all of us have screwed up things just like this, and is usually how we learned not to do it again. Don
Welcome to the real world. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I break stuff too. One of my mottos: "I learn something from everything i break"...jack
I'm glad to have found this thread as I'm about to install my first set of Ford kingpins. It should save me a lot of headaches. I'm one who has learned a lot from many mistakes. Thanks for sharing.
There's a very important safety lesson here, never attempt anything that could affect highway safety unless you have the proper method at hand. When I started working on cars there were only books to consult and I've done some stupid things especially with brakes but now with forums and the internet it only takes a few minutes to get started on the right foot.
I believe the Ford spec calls for a thumb-press fit as the kingpin enters the bushing 'pair'. At least on the '28-'37? axles.
there was a thread on here a couple days ago about stupid questions, the only stupid question is the one not ask good luck and we all make mistakes so you are not alone
This makes it look like the king pin is the same diameter all along its length, so if the pins measure the same the bushings could be "align honed" . http://www.who-sells-it.com/images/...957-66-ford-trucks-econoline-parts-000014.jpg Some designs use a stepped king pin, so a reamer with a pilot and adapters to "pickup" the other bushing are needed to align ream each bushing is needed. Reaming or honing the bushings one at a time will likely leave them mis-aligned. The pin can fit either one nicely, but the pin will jam as it slid into the second bushing. kind of like this - http://www.dynaroll.com/assets/images/catalog/Bearing-Misalignment.gif
One of the techs at the local Caterpillar dealer told me a trick, I was having a problem with a slight misalignment of one of the two bushings (very tight in both holes but nice in either side individually) yes I know that sounds dirty. Basically put the pin in the spindle and take your hammer and wack the pin in the center section (the area that would normally be in the axle) on each side did that a few times straighten that right out . That is all the guy does at his job is front end repair. Well I was working on a big yello school bus but the same principal applies, Andy
Thanks again every one i ordered new pins and bushings and had a shop ream them. just in case any one is looking in to getting some I found them for the cheapest on rockauto.com MOOG Part # 8455B .8590" x 6.540" king pin; metal bushing; Front $37.99
I just had this problem tonight & just keep running the adjustable reamer through. Messed up the grooves on the inside of the bushing, pin goes in nice now, but I am going to have to redo it. Everything was going so good too. Going to try this out next time.
I went through this a few months ago. None of the machine shops around here were set up to do it, and the cost would have exceeded the cost of a reamer. Anyway, if you plan on doing this more than once in your hot rod hobby career, this might be a good investment: http://www.dickspadaro.com/king_pin_reamer.htm
A guy could probably get his $ 225 back by doing kingpins for other rodders in the area. As I mentioned, I shell out $50 to have a local machine shop do ours, so we probably could have paid for it already just doing our own. Don
Just occurred to me that you have one of the new fangled late model fords. Dick's is 0.812. Still might be worth a call to see if they have a source for other diameters.
I am glad I took the time to read all of this. It will make me smile when having a hard time doing something that everyone else says is easy. Also I read the comment about Chevy's not needing reamed. made me wonder about the reamer in the drawer out in the shop that the packaging has a list of Chevy's it is used for. Maybe it was a gag sales item, a tool that you should never need. Rod
I bought a Chev reamer 40 odd years ago, probably did 20 or so '49-'54 Chev kingpin sets over the years and I don't think I had to use the reamer more than once or twice.
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