The frame is grey, looks pretty good. Just a couple of areas on the back where the brackets were cut off need a little filling. Will try to spray the black this Saturday.

Has anyone ever replaced the king pin and bushings on the front? Any tips getting the bushings out?

 

Very nice! You are getting right at it. The spray booth looks good too.

 

Very clean! Amazing how the frame number is so crisp. You can wear your sunday best when reassembling that beauty!

 

Thanks guys, I am pretty happy with the spray booth. I am going to order a forced air hood though. I did not like the fumes with the half mask I was wearing. This paint is not a good thing to inhale. Looking at the Hobbyair with the hood.

Joe777 I keep looking at your build for inspiration, really like the truck when it is in the paint booth all painted up.

GB I am hoping to at least wear a newer pair of jeans and t-shirt when reassembling this beast. I can't wait to start getting it to a point where it is going back together. I need to start ordering some parts for the front and rear ends. King pins and all the pins and bushings for the leaf springs. They are all pretty worn and I would like to get it as tight as I can.

 

No new pictures of my truck today so I thought I would throw one on here of a water truck that is owned by a water company east of Austin. Not sure of the story on it and I was only there for a quick visit. Ill need to ask more of it next time i am over there. I does not appear to have moved for a while.

 

Ahhhhhh that is beautiful!
I like this thread though. Keep up the good work. Some day I will get where you are. I have another project taking time.

 

Had a little spare time today to get some more work done. Got the Brownie box all back together and closed up. When I dissembled it I noticed that the little BB type ball that should have gone in between the two shift rods was not in between them but on top of the top rod. This allowed for both rods to move at the same time. There is a shaft drilled from the top and goes down to allow this BB to sit between the rod. It is now in between the rods in shaft and allows only one rod to move at a time. You may notice the top plate is not bolted tight. I still need to run this in to a bearing shop to see if they can match the two seals for those rods. I have left the old one in just in case they can't.

Was able to press out the Kingpin bushings, although I first tried to use a 15/16 socket but realized I was just pressing it in and barely moving the bushing. Switched to a 7/8" socket and the bushing pressed right out. Also had time to press out the bushings on the front springs. These took a 11/15" socket. They also came right out. As you can see they are worn pretty good. Ill be ordering all new bushings and pins.

Looks like the best bet is to purchase a adjustable reaming tool for the king pin bushings. Although $135 is kinda pricey, may take these to my engine guy to see if he can run them on one of his machines.

I may have a half a day tomorrow to work on the truck. Need to get the suspension ready for paint so I can get the frame back on it and free up the paint booth.

 

nice job that watson looks new! and that frame !!!

 

The Brownie looks great!!

 

I have done my last two kingpin jobs with my method. I have also done 2 sets for a friend for his 1 1/2 ton chevy dump trucks. All have been a rousing success. Slot the dowel which is about 1/8 or so undersize and insert two strips of abrasive cloth. I used torn strips of 80 grit from my belt sander. In the photos the top end of the dowel was whittled smaller to fit the drill chuck, but I have switched to driving a twelve point socket over the dowel and using a drill extension popped into that. At the lower end you see a piece of poly pipe and a hose clamp to keep it together at the bottom. Use long up and down strokes. The air will be glittering with brass dust. After a while the test fits start to get close, then I switch to 120 grit and carefully finish up. The first set was so good that the oiled up kingpins slowly dropped into the finished bushings by their own weight. It is of course important to check the fit quite often as you get close. It's pretty obvious you are a very skilled and very meticulous mechanic, so most of this is second nature.

 

GB, thanks for that detail, I read in another post you mentioning the dowel and sand paper. I'm going to do this. The reaming bit is $135, that's kinda hard to spend for a one time job. Ive got a call into Van Pelts for all the suspension parts, I want to make sure I am getting the right part. Seems like everything is listed as 42-47 Truck, Commercial, not 122" Wheelbase, 3/4 Ton, 1 Ton or Big Truck. Mine is a 799T Which is a 1 1/2, so maybe I am overlooking something or over analyzing.

 

I think there are only 2 sizes of king pins. The big truck like yours and the 122" one ton and 3/4 ton use the same kingpins as the pickup. I haven't seen how Vanpelts lists things.

 

I do powder coating and I am not going to PC my own frame. The guys that do sandblasting for me spray a black epoxy that powdercoating cant touch. The problem with powdercoating is that you have lots of nooks and cranny's that electrostatic spray systems don't work well with unless you preheat the hell out of the frame before you spray it. For my money I am going with epoxy paint.

 

40Ford, glad to hear that from a PCer. Makes me feel that painting the frame was the way to go.. I have the next several days off hope to get a lot more done. I sent Chucks Truck a list of everything I needed for the suspension and my credit card number. That's kinda scary but needed to be done. Hope to see some of that coming my way.

Question for you guys, My Timken axle has signs of leaking on it. My understanding is that there is no gasket between the two half's. Is that true? Should I just leave the two sides alone and not break into it? Is the front a pinion seal? and is that the culprit and that should be the only thing I remove to replace. All those bolts are just begging me to un-loosen and take a look inside. I really have no other reason to open it up, by splitting the case will I run into issues of re-shimming etc? The fluid was pretty thick and I thought about opening it and flushing it. Should I flush it the best I can with it sealed up? There is no noise or grinding when I spin the shaft. Really no metal sludge on the plug when I pulled it out. My feeling is to just let it be and replace the front seal, wire brush it all and paint.

 

I'm in the same boat. I want to crack the pumpkin just to look at it unfortunately I learn from breaking stuff and I've learned a lot over the years. I'm waiting on my manuals from Chuck until I take any of the drive stuff apart. Might sandblast everything first while it's still together just to keep that sense of progress. I'll be watching your thread for sure. Best of luck.