I just bought my first truck and its an old monster and I love it. Taking my time to bring her back to life. The upper and lower ball joints need to be replaced. My monster is only rear wheel drive and I can only seem to locate 4wd ball joints, not wanting to buy parts more then once, will a 4wd ball joint work in mine?

 

You don't have ball joints, you have king pins.

 

I purchased a Chilton handbook because I'm new to diesel, no mention of a king pin. Where would I go to find the right information on changing them correctly.

 

Kingpins are on the dana 60 solid axle (4x4) of that time span, but I don't know what is on the 2wd trucks. I'll assume its the same twin I-beam design that was used on the F250's which, at least in '88, looks to have ball joints from what I remember when taking that out to put a solid axle in my truck. I have the service manual in my garage at home and can take a look, but I don't know if something changed from 86-88?

BTW... Chilton is pretty useless with these trucks.

 

No, my '86 2wd has the same twin i-beam king pin front end my '69 2wd does. I know at some time they did go to ball joints, if your '88 has them that may be another change in the 8th generation trucks.


Mind you, that's on F250s', the F150's got ball joints way earlier.

 

I'll have to go look, I was going mostly by memory of what I thought I took off my truck when I converted it to 4x4. I still have the twin i-beam setup, but its buried under a pile of sticks, and 2 feet of snow....
If I remember tonight I'll go dig out the factory service manual and see if that says anything.

 

Factory service manual shows ball joints on 2wd F150-350's in 1988. The Econline vans E-whatever and F-super duty (F-450) have "spindle pins".

The "spindle pin" is totally different than what the Dana 60 king pin is, but I have no idea what the older twin I-beam "king pin" setup looks like so it looks like my usefulness in this thread has pretty much dried up, although my curiosity has peaked.
The spindle pin setup the factory manual shows is a single pin that goes through the top and bottom of the spindle with the center of the pin going through the i-beam. Is this what the "king pin" setup is on the older 2wd's? and I'm just confused by the terminology?

 

ball joint/king pin was another change for the 86-87 2 wheel drive trucks.
86 had kingpins, 87 had ball joints.

go to www.rockauto.com
scroll down to ford. then 86 then enter engine. type in "king pin" in the search box
scroll down to steering, then click on "king pin set"
moog set is $36.79, ac delco set is $66.79

 

Ahhh! That would be part of the problem, the king pins are listed under steering, while ball joints are listed under suspension!

And judging from the picture, king pins and what the service manual was calling spindle pins are the same thing. So I'm a little less confused now.

 

I finally got under the truck today to change the shocks and can confirm its the kingpin and not ball joints. Since this truck is as old as me, I have never seen a set up like this but I figure play in the tires is still bad. Thanks for the feedback and I have new ones ordered.

 

How do you know they are bad?

Do you know how to check them properly and what the spec is?

Did you grease them before measuring play?



On a dana 60 king pins get torqued in at @ 600 lb ft of torque. Add to that years of grime and possibly rust/abuse and you're going to have a fun time removing them. The king pin may not actually be worn and it could actually be the bushings or springs, or could just not have any grease in it. All things you probably want to check before you order parts and tear the truck down

 

he has a 2 wheel drive, not a 4 wheel drive.
two completely different animals, and completely different parts assembly's.

 

Yeah I know, I read it. I said "on a" not "on yours"

A kingpin is a kingpin is a kingpin

The actual pin probably gets torqued to 600 lb ft on a 2wd truck just like a 4wd truck, but I'll have to pull the shop manual to verify


Edit:

Here's from mitchel pro demand, if you want factory info I'll have to pull the book tonight since its at home

KING PIN TYPE


Disassembly

1.Raise vehicle and support securely. Remove wheel and tire assembly. Remove brake caliper. If equipped, remove locking hubs. See appropriate LOCKING HUBS article in DRIVE AXLE section.
2.Remove hub lock mechanism. Remove snap ring. Pry out driving hub and spring. Remove wheel bearing lock nut. Outer wheel bearing and retainer will come off with hub.
3.Remove inner bearing and seal from hub. Remove inner and outer bearing races (if necessary) with brass punch. Remove spindle. Carefully pull axle shaft assembly through hole in steering knuckle.
4.Disconnect steering linkage at knuckle. Remove nuts from upper king pin cap. Remove nuts alternately as spring will force cap up. Remove cap, compression spring and gasket.
5.Remove nuts from lower cap. Remove cap and king pin. Remove upper king pin tapered bushing and knuckle from axle yoke. Remove upper king pin from yoke using puller.
6.Using punch, drive out lower king pin bearing, bearing race, grease retainer and seal. Drive out from top to bottom.

Reassembly

1.Install new grease retainer and bearing race in bottom of yoke. Fill grease retainer with lubricant. Grease bearing and install in race. Install new lower king pin oil seal.
2.Care must be taken not to distort seal as it is driven into place. It will protrude slightly from surface of yoke. Using socket, install upper king pin. Installation torque is 500-600 ft. lbs. (678-813 N.m).
3.Position felt seal on king pin. Install steering knuckle and tapered bushing on king pin. Install lower bearing cap and king pin. Tighten bolts alternately and evenly to specifications.
4.Install compression spring on upper king pin bushing. Install bearing cap using new gasket. Tighten nuts alternately and evenly to specifications.


I think it's also a 7/8" allen to remove that, so best way is to use a piece of 7/8" 6 point bar stock, lots of heat, good socket and ratchet. Or leave it alone lol. But really the only way to know if you can do just the bronze bushings is to disassemble it far enough to inspect the kingpins





EDIT 2:

It appears these repair instructions are incorrect, though they were researched for the OP's vehicle. DO NOT attempt repair as described here on a 2wd vehicle

 

Here's bushing replacement instructions, with the spec of how much play it can have

This info was for a 1986 f350 6.9 diesel 2wd auto, but is probably going to be pretty universal on stuff that has kingpins, though there may be some variations, so don't take this as gospel for all models


KINGPIN BUSHINGS


Removal & Installation (Forged Front "I" Beam Axle)

1.Remove spindle from vehicle as previously outlined. Install spindle in a vise. On E150 models, use Reamer (D82T-3110-D0), Bushing Remover/Installer Driver (D82T-3110-B) and Driver Handle (D82T-3110-C) to drive bushing out of bore in spindle.
2.On E250/350 and F250/350 models, use Reamer (T53T-3110-DA), Bushing Remover/Installer Driver (D82T3110-B) and Driver Handle (D82T-3110-C) to drive bushings out of bore in spindle.
3.Each side of the bushing remover/installer driver tool is marked with a "T" or a "B". Use the side with the "T" stamping to install the top spindle bushing. Use the side with the "B" to install the bottom spindle bushing.
4.Remove and discard the seal from the bottom of the top bushing bore. Remove and install the top spindle bushing first. Install the driver handle through the bottom bore.
5.Position a new bushing on the "T" side stamping of the bushing remover/installer driver. The bushing must be installed on the tool so the open end grooves will face outward when installed.
6.Position the new bushing and driver over the old bushing. Insert the handle into the driver and drive the old bushing out while the new bushing is driven in. Drive until the tool is seated.
7.The bushing will then be seated at the the proper depth 0.080" (2 mm) minimum from the bottom of upper spindle boss. Using the "B" side stamping, repeat steps 5) and 6) to install the bottom bushing.
8.Proper depth of bottom bushing is 0.130" (3.5 mm). Ream the new bushings to .001-.003" (.025-.076 mm) larger than the diameter of a new kingpin. Ream the top bushing first with the reamer tool.
9.Install the smaller diameter of the tool through the top bore and into the bottom bore until the reaming threads are in position in the top bushing. Rotate the tool until the threads exit the top bushing.
10.The larger diameter portion of the tool will act as a pilot in the top bushing to properly ream the bottom bushing. Clean all metal shavings and lubricate bushings and kingpins.
11.Install a new seal on bushing remover/installer driver tool on the side with the "T" stamping. Install the handle into the driver and push the seal into position in the bottom of the top bushing bore.
12.Reverse the remaining removal procedure to complete installation.


BALL JOINT OR KINGPIN CHECKING


Raise vehicle. Adjust wheel bearings. Grab each wheel and shake in and out while watching front spindle assembly. Assembly must not move more than 1/32" (0.79 mm) at the upper or lower arms, relative to the axle. If worn beyond limits, replace ball joints or install new kingpins and bushings.

 

Not exactly, the 2wd and 4x4 versions are COMPLETELY different...
What you posted is ALL for the 4x4 Dana 60 trucks.
The 2wd vans/trucks have what ford calls "spindle pins" which is one continuous pin through the top and bottom of the spindle. The service manual is an '88 that only shows the F-Superduty/450 and Econoline van setups, but I imagine the truck was basically the same.

On 4x4 trucks, the kingpin thats removed with the 7/8" allen wrench is at the top of the housing. The bottom has a bearing that sits on the king pin cap that bolts onto the bottom of the knuckle.