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Front spindle restoration... King pin and bushings help


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Team,

Referring to my manual, the description and picture looks like this unit comes apart... But not clear... so i post my question... Visual inspection, again, this is new territory to me :)... Can the spindle thing be removed? Looks like a giant pin vertically, but has no pins or nuts...

i see that I could possibly remove the unit from the a-arm as I see rubber bushings, grease nipples and possibly the ends screw off..

question is posted to help me understand how to clean, re-grease / paint and replace rubber bumpers in preparation for frame cleaning and paint.

as always, very much appreciated, grateful and thanking you in advance...

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Guest Bob Call

Yes this comes apart. The "giant vertical pin" is the king pin. It is a usually locked in place with some type of pin or bolt. Looks like the hole next to the king pin in the steering knuckle may be where the locking bolt goes. Anyway, if there is nothing locking it in place it can be driven out of spindle nd the spindle will come off of the steering knuckle. A king pin kit will have king pins, spindle bushings and bearings. Unless you have a set of bushing reamers, take the spindles, new king pins and new bushings to an auto machine shop and let them install the bushings and ream them to fit the king pins.

You may need new bushings for the control arm / steering knuckle joints also.

Carefully note how things come apart or take pictures at every little step to help with reassembly.

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Your manual should give you some guidance on disassembly. The king pin is just what it implies i.e., a big pin that the steering knuckle pivots on. Most king pins are held in place by a tapered pin driven in sideways. Usually, after the taper pin is driven out the king pin itself can be driven out with a brass drift and a BFH (big f***ing hammer). The pin usually rides in bushings/bearings. The normal course of repair for worn king pins is to drive out the pin, drive out the bushings, replace the bushings and then ream the new bushing to fit new pins. It's not as difficult as it sounds but if you are inexperianced it would help to get some hands on help................Bob

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Thanks,

appreciate the feedback, ill open up my spare box pin set to see what's there, match to my book... And will take to shop for help....

one more page added to my notes :)'

What they all said, that hole which runs horizontally midway down the body of the kingpin has a tapered pin which you need to knockout first ( same as you find on a bicycle pedal arm), it secures the vertical kingpin. Once this is removed you should, with drift and hammer, be able to drive the pin down, once out the axle stub is removed and you can get to the upper and lower king pin bushes for replacement.

Have you established that there is enough wear to warrant this excercise? to check, raise the wheel off the ground and grasp it top and bottom, try to rock it in a vertical movement and if you have more than 1/16" freeplay then its time to replace the bushes, just make sure however that the play isnt in the wheel bearing before you start stripping things; if you have an assistant rock the wheel while you observe the kingpin you should be able to work it out.

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What they all said, that hole which runs horizontally midway down the body of the kingpin has a tapered pin which you need to knockout first ( same as you find on a bicycle pedal arm), it secures the vertical kingpin. Once this is removed you should, with drift and hammer, be able to drive the pin down, once out the axle stub is removed and you can get to the upper and lower king pin bushes for replacement.

Have you established that there is enough wear to warrant this excercise? to check, raise the wheel off the ground and grasp it top and bottom, try to rock it in a vertical movement and if you have more than 1/16" freeplay then its time to replace the bushes, just make sure however that the play isnt in the wheel bearing before you start stripping things; if you have an assistant rock the wheel while you observe the kingpin you should be able to work it out.

yes, there is some play, very minor and I can see the rubber is starting to fall apart... To add, to my surprise... That tapered pin that's supposed to be in the middle... Is empty... I was shocked, there is no pin in that hole... I do see the notch where the pin gently fits into the larger vertical pin.... So it must have been removed or fell out at one time....

im glad I asked... As I am starting to clean and repair parts now that I have inventoried everything... I am starting from the ground up... First this section... Frame, lines.. And so on...

this was a big help! Thanks all..

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In that case the king pin may be stubborn and fight removal. Might take a very BFH. When driving it out please use a brass or other soft drift to prevent damage to your car or yourself.........Bob

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A little heat on the spindle doesn't hurt either.

In Chevy dealerships, we had to heat the end of truck axles red hot to get the pins to even start moving.

Be sure to remove the dust cap on the top before driving the pin out.

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In that case the king pin may be stubborn and fight removal. Might take a very BFH. When driving it out please use a brass or other soft drift to prevent damage to your car or yourself.........Bob

Great stuff... I learned another word.. "Drift" and BFH... Lol, that one I learned on YouTube when the guy was using a pickle fork...

thanks for the tips, hopefully all goes well and the cleaning is easy... Found a drift set, excited to add to my tool box...

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So I dug out my spare kingpin box... And I have the following (pictured)... So I will investigate what additional parts I need. And I will check the size in my Manual. I think I have 2 sets less one large pin... In addition to my manual, I found this illustration a little more clear, it's not for my application, but I can use the knuckle pic on the right of it as a guide...

if and when I get this unit apart and cleaned, can I reuse the large pin if its still in shape?

This aaca post helped too...

http://forums.aaca.org/f169/37-pontiac-bad-king-pin-bushings-284055.html

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Edited by CDN224 (see edit history)
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Typically the bushings and pins both wear in size and roundness. Replacing one but not the other might help a bit for awhile but it would be penny wise and pound foolish............Bob

I 2nd,3rd & 4th what Bob said; also from your original photo it seems there has`nt been a lot of lubrication up there in a while so you could assume the wear all round will be significant.

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I 2nd,3rd & 4th what Bob said; also from your original photo it seems there has`nt been a lot of lubrication up there in a while so you could assume the wear all round will be significant.

Yep,

poor gal has been neglected... No lube.. Even the grease nipples are worn. At least after I'm done, she will be almost new.... I will replace as much as I can and do both sides.

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