A tip for king pin removal

[fordman]

i had been trying to get some king pins out of a set of i beams i got from the junkyard. They were all sized up and wouldn't even turn. after i had let them sit in my garage too long. so i took the caps off of them and used soem heat to get them to turning. i them sprayed some pb blaster into the top and bottom to lube up the pin and spindle bushings. but when i used heat to try and get the pins out it wasn't working. so i let them sit for a few weeks. finally today i got back on them. i noticed that the spacer on the bottom part of the king pin between the spindle and i beam were froze up. so i heated then and chiesaled to get them to move. they were just to hard to move in that little space. so i took the torch and carefully torched the spacer out of that are with out damaging the king pin. i then reheated the i beam and i pounded them right out. it was the spacer that was holding them in the whole time. i wonder if anyone else who has had a hard time getting them out had this problem. i figure it had to be a part of it for some of you. so my advise is to check that spacer. and make sure it isn't whats holding your king pin in. instead of rust and so forth in the i beam. good luck with your removal when it comes time. i forgot to mention that i had these out of the truck. and on my tailgate to do this work. so doing this in your truck may be harder or easier depending on how you look at it. i wish these were in the truck when i was doing it. but then again i wouldn't have been able to move them around quite as easily if they were.

[qmcdugan]

Fordman

Thanks for explanation. It's nice to have that sort of preview to a job that some of us have never done. I was doing a steering lube job last week and both of the lower zercs would not accept any grease. This has me a little concerned about the removal of the King Pins. Im thinking they may be frozen in there. If I can get the spacers you mentioned out of the way, then if they are still stuck, I can get the penitrating fluid to it and a hand held torch to warm em up a little. Yes?

You mentioned that it might just be easier in the truck rather than go through all of the disassembly. The question is IF (big if) the king pins are all I appearently need, should I be looking at any thing else ie Bushings and simply plan on a complete break down of the steering assembly?

[fordman]

the zirc s canbe replaced by themsleves. so that may help you grease them. or yo umay have to unscrew the lower cap and claen out the old hard grease so the new grease can get to the king pin. as far as replacing the other axles bushings you can do that. i woudl think you could do that at the same time or another time. they aren't really in the way or a while you are at it kind of job. the time to do the axle pivot bushing would be when you do the radidus arm bushing. then that is a while you are at it type of job. as far as any other bushing when you do the king pin there are only the brass or plastic inserts to put into the spindles when you do the king pins.

[qmcdugan]

F100 King Pin overhaul

I assume that I would need to remove the wheel, brake parts and brake plate in order to get the King Pin Plug backed out. Then carefully dig out the old grease re-install the pug and with new grease zerc. I’m thinking that I when I pull the Locking Pin to facilitate removal of the King Pin the Spindle will come free.

When the spindle is pulled, does it come out, without the lower bearing or will the bearing come out with the spindle? Are the parts inter-changeable? I mean are the King Pin Plugs, and Bushings the same, so that during re-assembly it won’t be a concern? And is the King Pin designed so that it can be installed with either end up?

I’ll clean everything in diesel fuel, pre-lube the bushings and King Pin with grease and re-assemble. I’m hopeful that this will address the issue for the time being until a new King Pin Kit can be purchased. Are the metal bushings better than the plastic nylon ones?

[fordman]

the one i did was disc brakes. as far as just replacing the zirc. just take that cap off of the bottm and put the new cap or old one with the new zirc in it. while the cap is off look in there and see if the grease is hard of soft. if its hard just stick something in there and dig it out. theres no need to pull the king pin to remove the old hard grease. if you are doing a complete removal and installation. the backing plate may get in the way of the old one coming out and the new one going in. the brakes and all of that could be left on there i guess. the backing plate may flex enough to let the king pin go past it. the lower bearing thing is what i had to torch off to get the king pin to move at all. i do not know about the top or bottom of a pin. i think it is the same but i haven't put one back yet. the metal bushings are the ones to buy. the nylon type wont last for nothing. the metal or brass i shoul dsay bushings have to be reamed to fit inot the spindle. a machine shop can do that unless you have the tool to do it with.

[Banjo]

Purple power works good on cutting old congealed grease, to me, it worked better than the carb/brake cleaner/laquer thinners I tried. Air grease gun works better than manual. Zeirdt fittings can clog and not allow grease in. kingpins can accept grease better in different fashions and I forget those (weight on versus weight off). Something about unloading the suspension. Kingpins are funny, out of the 2 sets I've done by hammer, one dropped out in 20 minutes beating with no prep work. Others took days and days of beatings and soakings and heat. BUT...BUT....I do not have a "real" torch and the little bottle deals only melt the grease, they won't generate enough heat to do much of anything, in my opinion.

[fordman]

you are right about the blue propane bottles not being able to heat much of anything except plumbing. to sweat it back together. mapp gas in the yellow bottles burns hotter than propane. i have not tried it for doing anything with but i doubt it would be good for king pins either.

[qmcdugan]

Getting ideas and a real world view of what I might encounter helps. I thought the fuel pump I replaced on this rig was going to be ulgy and prepared for the worst. It turned out to be a 5 Minute $25 job.
I'm hoping a punch or bolt (with the threads ground down and burrs filed off) or a stud, the size of the King Pin might be used as a driver. The real problem will be those pesky bushings that I may just leave in. The bolt will give me something to hit... besides a finger or knuckle I plan for this to be just a good cleaning wih the old parts going back in. So I'll have to be careful. Once the rain quits, I'll let ya know how this goes, with pics.
And thanks for the word about the hand torches that don't work. I'll save my money for parts, besides I don't want to catch my truck on fire!

[NM5K]

I think the easiest way to do kingpins is to pull the whole axles off, and
take em to a machine shop to have the pins pressed out.
I did the ones on my 68, and I couldn't get em to budge here at the house.
I used a torch for heat, hammered, even let the whole weight of the truck
push em.. No budge.. #$%^...
I yanked the axles and took them to the machine shop.
I think I'll do that from the start if I ever have to do those again.
My 74 F-100 needs new kingpin bushings. But I think I'm going to
unload it fairly soon, and I'll let the new owner worry about that.
It's got nylon bushings in it right now.
I put metal bushings back in the 68. I think they last longer than
the nylon.

[AlleyCat]

Guys most king pins have a top and bottom. Measure the distance from the lock pin groove to the ends of the pin. The shorter distance goes up. If the measurment is the same on both ends then it doesn't matter. As far as siezed I've had a few so bad I had to split the thrust bearing, cut the pin in half, hammer the spindle upwards, cut the pin again then put the I beam in a shop press to get the remains of the pin out. There are presses that can be used on the truck. One version is mechanical and can be powered with an impact wrench. The hydraulic versions are slicker than snot on a door knob. The mechanical versions can be found on evilbay or craigslist time to time. The hydraulic versions are pretty pricey.

If you have a pin that won't take grease and you've cleaned out the crud try heating it. Often the combination of heat and pressure will push the old grease out. If you have access to an air powered greaser and cutting torches use them. 2 bits of caution here though. If your rig has nylon bushings a cutting torch can melt them. Also wear gloves and long sleeves when working as fire hot grease under pressure makes for some nasty burns.

A couple more things. When replacing king pins buy the brass bushings. They cost a bit more and you'll have to get a machine shop to ream them but with regular grease jobs they'll likely outlast the rest of truck. Lastly when you assemble the pins use an antisieze lube. Don't be stingy with stuff. It makes life a lot easier next time you have to tear it down.

[qmcdugan]

Well, it sounds like I'll have to check the shops to find one that is capable of pressing pins out of the spindles and getting the grunt work done for me, just in case I can't.
My searches have identified Kits with metal bushings. They don't indicate the alloy, brass verses what... Steel? I'll not assume that it's brass and have them check to make sure.
This may be a bit over the top, (assuming that yearly lubing of the pins are done) but if the King pins were pulled / knocked out when brakes are pulled for inspection and cleaning (I have drums all the way around) say every 5 to 10 years, could a guy expect disassembly to go pretty smoothly? That’s about the interval for Disc brake rotor wheel bearings and rear brakes on my rigs. Mind you, I don’t keep a tight maintenance schedule. You see since it’s only a few more bolts to pull the spindles I say why not. I suppose I’ll answer my own question in five years or so when I go to redo this job and put my theory to the acid test.
One last note is the Reaming of the king pin / bushing holes. Example (though a poor one perhaps), I knock out the bearing race from a disc rotor and get the new one tapped into place. I don’t have to be concerned about buying an over sized race. I’ve seen Reamers on Ebay, so this action may be somewhat common. Is there enough slop in the tolerances to provide for reaming with out much concern for purchasing oversized King Pins? A question I’ll have to ask the shop since I don’t know what size reamer they might use.
Dad gummit Guys this is a FORD turck! It’s sapposta be simple, right?

[AlleyCat]

Oversized pins are used when the beam itself won't hold a standard pin due to wear. Commonly refered to as bellmouthing the pin will actually rock in the beam using the lock pin as a pivot. They can wear far enough that an oversize pin isn't enough to repair it and the beam has to be bored oversize and a repair sleeve pressed in. Fortunately a beam worn that badly is very rare in a light duty truck. Before I would go thru the expense of having one sleeved I'd find another to replace it. Bellmouthed I beams are more common to medium duty, door to door delivery trucks that regularly run overloaded and bounced off of curbs many times a day.

BTW, metal bushings are steel backed brass.

[fordman]

good work clay. very good info. keeping the king pins greased will help them not to wear. it should be done at so many miles when everything else is greased. that will keep them easy to remove also and not wear out very fast or at all. these trucks are very easy you just have to get used to them. they aren't a big deal really.

[AlleyCat]

these trucks are very easy you just have to get used to them. they aren't a big deal really.

Craig, technology wise these trucks are dinosaurs. They really don't get complicated until someone starts adding things like EFI engines. The problem with dinosaurs is finding a veterinarian who can treat them. Most of today's mechanics..er..technicians don't have a clue how to service king pins. All they know is a few horror stories and don't have any interest in learning any more.

Twin I beams are just about indestructable if the owner follows 3 simple rules.

Rule # 1....Grease it regularly.
Rule # 2....Grease it regularly.
Rule # 3....Grease it regularly.

A couple of other Twin I notes. DO..run top of the line heavy duty shocks. DO NOT..run lug or block type tire treads. Solid rib tread designs give much better wear on these front suspensions.

Most of the members here have seen the chase scene in Mr. Majstyk. I've driven bumps and dents just about that hard. Cracked a couple windshields and bent a driveshaft but never hurt the Twin I's.

[qmcdugan]

Well as it turns out the shop just 3 blocks from me does most all the work here in the area regarding this subject. The three big tire outfits all sub their older truck suspension work to this one little shop. I'm all about trying to keep my grease gun handy. It's a pretty simple job for the most part. There are those zercs that are between a rock and hard spot like the Inner Tie Rod zerc, located behind the twin I beams.
I'll give this a try myself and punt to the shop if I have to, even if it means calling a tow truck. We all know the satisfaction of getting a difficult job done without resorting to the Pros, that's why we do what we do, busted knuckles and all.
By the way, Chuck the Lead Mech at the shop says the bushings normally come just a little bigger to match the size of the reamer. Once I get the dis-assembly done, I'll take the spindles down to the shop and have them checked. based on their recommendations I'll order the parts, $79 from their parts desk and have them the next day. Again I'll try to get some pics.