I all
Got the King Pin Kit today.

There's one part not in the exploded view of the assembly.
Where do the four "paper thin" washers go that are in the kit?
Two on top, two on bottom?
Are they required or Extras?

Thanks

Reamer

 

If they are metal washers, they go above the axle and under the upper spindle arm. That way, they don't have the weight of the truck on them, but you can add one or more to shim the axle height between the spindle arms so there isn't excessive play. They keep the spindle and bearing from sliding up and down and smacking against the top and bottom of the axle.

If they are paper washers, I have no clue.

 

Hi George

These are paper thin steel washers.

So....You have to pound in the new pin and assembly in to find out if there is play, so you bang the pin out to "shim" the play out.......Hmmmm Sounds like too much fun!

Reamer

 

I'm not sure you should have to pound the new king pins into the axle. I think they should be a close fit, but you should be able to slide them in by hand (or maybe just a light tap with a hammer). The king pins are really held in place by the tapered retaining bolt when you tighten the retaining bolt nut.

If the new pins are so tight in the axle that you need to drive them in, I'd seriously consider cleaning up the axle bore ID. If you work on the pins, make sure you do it before you have the bushings line-reamed in the spindles. Otherwise, when you change the pin OD, you'll have wasted the money you spent having the bushings line reamed to precisely match the pins.

 

Yeah what Earl said, when I did mine I cleaned everything up, lined reamed my bushings, and put some grease on the surfaces of the pin and bushings. I was able to slide mine fairly easily. Also once you have the pin through the top of the spindle and the axle you can tell if a shim will fit in place. I put in as many shims as I could. I figured wear would increase the gap over time.