I purchased a disc brake kit, and have a question. The guy I bought the disc brakes from said if i lift the truck, and i cant wiggle the tires side to side or up and down the king pins should be ok. If this is the case can i just take out the kingpin and put it back in? Previous posts said to use a lube for 3 to 4 days before I try this. And others said if it does not come out take it to a machine shop. Any other opinions. This is going to be a nice low dollar drivers truck.

Jerry

 

Kingpins can be one of the most frustrating parts of an old vehicle to remove. I would venture to say, at least from my experience, that when you get the old one out it will require replacement. And with replacement you'll need to ream the bushings if you go solid. Soak with PB blast and if that does not work you'll need heat and pressure. Good luck.

 

As mentioned above king pins can very difficult to remove; mine slid out fairly easy which may contribut to the fact that they were replaced about 10 years ago. If you don't know what you are doing I would have a shop do it. The axle will more than likely need new bushings which will need to reamed to fit the king pins. There are also over sized king pins which you may not need unless yours is really oblonged. I would replace the king pins if I was you regardless if they felt tight, they will make a big difference in the ride. If you decide to take your king pins out just make sure you take the bolt that's in the side of the axle out that holds the pins in.

 

There's no reason to remove the king pins if you're just adding disc brakes. The brakes bolt onto the spindles on the axle. Nothing changes inboard of the backing plates. Unless you have an issue with sloppy or worn king pins/bushings, I'd suggest simply leaving them alone and changing only the brakes.

 

I thought you have to remove the kingpin in order to mount the spindle onto truck. i have worked on a arm and mcpherson strut cars. first time on straight axle.

jerry

 

jerry, If the truck is assembled with the spindles attached to the axle, then there should be no reason to disassemble the spindles from the axle. Only reason I can think of is to replace the kingpins. Perhaps I am wrong and your kit instructions say to remove the spindle. If you leave the spindles attached to the axle, clean the area of the king pin good and purge the kinpins good until grease comes out all around the bushings and the thrust bearing. Work the spindle back and forth while purging. The thrust bearing and both bushings must get lubrication. HTH.
Or, does the kit come with new spindles?????

 

I called the guy I bought this from. I should have clarified this disc brakes where all ready on a spindle. The guy put them on his truck and didnt like them. He said the bearing would be destroyed if I took it off. So the king pin has to come out. I am soaking it with pb blaster will try to take the king pins out this weekend. The king pins seem to be ok. No play in the suspension.Any tips on what to look for if the king pins are worn.

Jerry

 

If by chance you got his axle and spindles as an assembly, just install the whole assembly. Or if you just got his spindles with the brakes installed, remove the brakes and install on your spindles. I guess I must be missing something here.

 

i have his spindles. no axle. the spindles have a special bearing that if you try to take off spindles you will destroy it. so i am soaking my kingpins with liquid wrench. and hopefully this will work. I should call some of the company that sell kits if they just sell the bearnig.

jerry

 

Not to scare you but my kingpins took a 100 ton shop press to get them out. Let em soak and try to avoid heating them. Most good semi-truck shops still work with kingpins so if you need to outsource check with them. Make sure that you get them right cause a sloppy fit can cause a lot of problems. For a bit of information, Autozone can get a kingpin set for $39 but if you have to go oversize they get pricy. Good luck.

 

appreciate the words of encouragement. The way I see it I got brakes at a good price. A little research and effort should make it ok. If I get stumped I will think about taking out the axle and letting shop do it. But I gotta try if you dont try you will never know what you are capable of.

Jerry