Here I go with my next problem. I went to get an alignment. When they put my truck on the rack they showed me the play in the king pins. The previous owner told me these were just done and they look to be. I never really checked for play but it's there.

So the alignment guy told me it could be missing shims?

I will do my research through the web but looking for help here too. Are these tough to replace or repair? How should I go about fixing this? Can the average do it yourselfer tackle this at home?

The truck is
1968 F100 2 wheel drive
Someone upgraded to the 73 -79 disc brakes

Thanks
Kenny

 

The previous owner could of used the easier to install "Nylon Bushings" instead of the brass type bushings. I have read stories on this forum of guys feeling play in their front end after 6 months of installing the nylon type bushings.
The nylon type do not require reaming/honing of the bushings that the brass type do.

Hopefully the bushings are in good shape and it will just requires some shims. If it requires new bushings and king pins, most on this forum will tell you that it is much easier for a machine shop to install them correctly.

If you can get the hub assembly taken apart and bring them to a shop to push out the old bushings and ream the new you cold probably get it done reasonably cheap. Maybe ($100 - $200)

I am sure some will chime in on the horror stories of trying to accomplish a king pin job by hand.

 

If the kingpins have been in place for years, they may be very resistant to being driven out. On the other hand, if they were "just done," it shouldn't be difficult to remove the pins --particularly if there's slop in them.

It may be very difficult to find a local alignment shop or garage that has the reamer to install/ream bronze kingpin bushings. You may have better luck checking with a big truck shop or possibly an engine shop for someone that has the equipment and/or knowledge of rebuilding a kingpin front suspension.

'Slop' in the bushings would tend to indicate the bushings are old and worn, nylon or, the bronze bushings were reamed too large on the I.D. to start with.

I borrowed a piloted reamer and an adjustable reamer from a local engine rebuilder and did my own kingpins ('77 F100 front discs on a '69 F100). The kingpins are .859" diameter.

 

The answer to your question depends on what type of "play" there is. If the play is only up and down play then more shims need to be added to the kingpins. If there is in and out play, that is to say left and right, then yes you have bushing play. This assumes that the kingpin lockpin is in tightly and the nut is tight.

 

My 67 f-100 had factory nylon bushings and they lasted 93,000 miles and could have gone further.

 

Agreed, I replaced kingpins when I installed the disc brakes and they had been in there for years. The bushings were plastic and still in decent shape. Not as good as bronze by any means but should last longer than 6 months.

 

A few weeks ago I needed new front tires and since one of them was much more worn than the other I asked them to do an alignment too. I was told that the kingpins were too bad to do an alignment. So I bought a set and this past weekend a friend and I set out to change them. We found that there was nothing wrong with them. The slop in the wheels was just that bearings needed to tightened. For those keeping score at home, the difference in the cost of a kingpin replacement and just tightening up the front wheel bearings is substantial. Just saying

 

greasy rider---It's odd yet very true that little things like that are overlooked and the fix is easy. Done that a lot myself as I can be a bit forgetful at times.

 

Sounds like that guy was finding reasons "not to do an alignment."

 

ultraranger, what was the size of that reamer you used for the .859 king pin?
This is another project since I did find slop in the passenger side king pin. I'm assuming a .859 reamer would give a .860 cut, but this is new territory for me.

 

No such thing as brass bushings, they're BRONZE!

Brass bushings would wear out much quicker than nylon bushings, probably in a NY minute, as brass is a very soft alloy.

 

Thank you for the clarification.

 

Did my king pins and bushing last summer. It was a snap.

 

No, the alignment shop wanted to gouge the guy for some kingpins that it didn't need. A common ploy done by unscrupulous shops.

 

I was thinking the same, but maybe it was based on the age of the truck.