steering stabelizers
Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,851
Likes: 3
From: Buckley, WA
X2 1/4" washer? The top bracket is actually from the TTB dual stabilizer kit. Rest is just angle iron
Logistics Pro
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,737
Likes: 179
From: Western Mass
Found where I posted these directions before. This is what I did to shim the kingpin and should help you out.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post10150741
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post10150741
Country boy is correct, the washers increase the pre-load on the kingpin. The increased pre-load will change the steering effort required. Seeing as these trucks have power steering, it shouldn't really matter. However, I have a feeling that the increased load will have negative effects on the lifetime of the steering gear and pump.
I had some serious death wobble after swapping my D60 in. Sometimes it would just manifest itself, but mostly it was from hitting a bump on the passenger side (drivers side didn't seem to be an issue if I remember right). I damn near crapped myself the first time it happened (after driving on it for 30 minutes, at speeds of at least 75 MPH with no problem).
I did lots of searching, and also found the washer trick. One place said to use grade 8 washers, thats a waste of money, the 28 cent ones will work just fine. I bought mine at tractor supply by the pound, might be even cheaper. I think I have 2 in each side? 3 wouldn't fit, the cap won't seal. (might be 3 each side, 4 won't fit, can't remember) Which basically means somewhere between 2 and 3 washers the preload spring is completely compressed. Due to the length of the bolts, and the additional force on the spring, its tough to get the cap back on and bolted down, so this was my method:
Setup parking brake and chock wheels (safety first!)
Jack up one side
Remove tire
Remove grease fitting from kingpin cap (you'll see why later)
Support the steering knuckle (I used a second small jack)
Remove the 4 bolts holding the kingpin cap in place, undo them gradually to keep from distorting the cap.
Remove the cap, now is a good time to clean out the old grease. The kingpin bushing will be inside the knuckle, lower the knuckle to pop it loose and clean and regrease the kingpin.
Replace the bushing with new grease, align the key with the slot to keep it from rotating. Make sure the thin metal washer is between the bushing and the spring.
Add the washers. They can either go between the bushing and the spring, or the spring and the cap. I think mine are under the spring as they didn't fit all the way up in the cap.
Replace the cap and attempt to start threading a bolt. I couldn't get it to compress the spring and start a bolt with two hands so I did the following:
- Put a strap around the knuckle and jack.
- Jack up the knuckle until it just starts to hold the weight of the truck.
- Tighten the strap to pull the cap down
- Thread in the bolts and tighten evenly to spec
Replace the grease fitting you removed earlier (it gets in the way of the strap) and pump in some more new grease
Replace tire
Lower truck, remove chocks
Put away tools
Test drive!
For those of you concerned about using cheap grade 2 washers, take a look at how things are held together. The kingpin bushing is made from nylon. The kingpin cap is a thin piece of stamped metal. The washers are thicker than the cap material... The washers are purely in compression with the full surface of the washers under stress. Washers normally are loaded unevenly with one side resting on a flat surface, but the side towards the bolt/nut only partially loaded. Also, the washers are thicker than most people think.
After doing this, it almost eliminated the death wobble, which really feels more like a death one-wheel-hop when it happens (at least in my experience). For the most part, there is only one road I've still had it happen on, this road has some small frost heaves/unevenness, and it doesn't happen every time. When it does happen I'm traveling ~45-50 MPH. An immediate braking to ~25-30 MPH stops the shaking. I am NOT running a track bar. I do have the track bar, but half of the spring side bracket was cut off when I got it. The set of spring brackets I found where from a 78-79 truck that did not run the track bar so I had no way of mounting it. Note I also rolled my own reverse shackle kit when installing the axle.
BTW, the 2" measurement on the washers is their diameter (measure across the circle). NOT the bolt size.
I had some serious death wobble after swapping my D60 in. Sometimes it would just manifest itself, but mostly it was from hitting a bump on the passenger side (drivers side didn't seem to be an issue if I remember right). I damn near crapped myself the first time it happened (after driving on it for 30 minutes, at speeds of at least 75 MPH with no problem).
I did lots of searching, and also found the washer trick. One place said to use grade 8 washers, thats a waste of money, the 28 cent ones will work just fine. I bought mine at tractor supply by the pound, might be even cheaper. I think I have 2 in each side? 3 wouldn't fit, the cap won't seal. (might be 3 each side, 4 won't fit, can't remember) Which basically means somewhere between 2 and 3 washers the preload spring is completely compressed. Due to the length of the bolts, and the additional force on the spring, its tough to get the cap back on and bolted down, so this was my method:
Setup parking brake and chock wheels (safety first!)
Jack up one side
Remove tire
Remove grease fitting from kingpin cap (you'll see why later)
Support the steering knuckle (I used a second small jack)
Remove the 4 bolts holding the kingpin cap in place, undo them gradually to keep from distorting the cap.
Remove the cap, now is a good time to clean out the old grease. The kingpin bushing will be inside the knuckle, lower the knuckle to pop it loose and clean and regrease the kingpin.
Replace the bushing with new grease, align the key with the slot to keep it from rotating. Make sure the thin metal washer is between the bushing and the spring.
Add the washers. They can either go between the bushing and the spring, or the spring and the cap. I think mine are under the spring as they didn't fit all the way up in the cap.
Replace the cap and attempt to start threading a bolt. I couldn't get it to compress the spring and start a bolt with two hands so I did the following:
- Put a strap around the knuckle and jack.
- Jack up the knuckle until it just starts to hold the weight of the truck.
- Tighten the strap to pull the cap down
- Thread in the bolts and tighten evenly to spec
Replace the grease fitting you removed earlier (it gets in the way of the strap) and pump in some more new grease
Replace tire
Lower truck, remove chocks
Put away tools
Test drive!
For those of you concerned about using cheap grade 2 washers, take a look at how things are held together. The kingpin bushing is made from nylon. The kingpin cap is a thin piece of stamped metal. The washers are thicker than the cap material... The washers are purely in compression with the full surface of the washers under stress. Washers normally are loaded unevenly with one side resting on a flat surface, but the side towards the bolt/nut only partially loaded. Also, the washers are thicker than most people think.
After doing this, it almost eliminated the death wobble, which really feels more like a death one-wheel-hop when it happens (at least in my experience). For the most part, there is only one road I've still had it happen on, this road has some small frost heaves/unevenness, and it doesn't happen every time. When it does happen I'm traveling ~45-50 MPH. An immediate braking to ~25-30 MPH stops the shaking. I am NOT running a track bar. I do have the track bar, but half of the spring side bracket was cut off when I got it. The set of spring brackets I found where from a 78-79 truck that did not run the track bar so I had no way of mounting it. Note I also rolled my own reverse shackle kit when installing the axle.
BTW, the 2" measurement on the washers is their diameter (measure across the circle). NOT the bolt size.
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 473
Likes: 1
From: dirty jerzy
shimmed the kingpins , with one waser one each side,( as i was doing it,saying this aint going to work ) but sure enough!! got it all back together went to my favotie death wobbel spot down the street and no wobble
before i put the cap back on i took off the grease fitting, then i packed the spring & the bushing area with grease, so when i put the cap & bolted it down , grease was forced out the fitting hole
before i put the cap back on i took off the grease fitting, then i packed the spring & the bushing area with grease, so when i put the cap & bolted it down , grease was forced out the fitting hole
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 473
Likes: 1
From: dirty jerzy
well that was short lived---this mournig it shook like hell again,
where do i go from here???????
any body want to buy a truck?
where do i go from here???????
any body want to buy a truck?
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,737
Likes: 179
From: Western Mass
If you only put one washer, try two. I think I did the same. 1 wasn't enough, 2 prevented 99.99% of the wobbles (every once in a great while if I hit a frost heave the right way it might happen, but only on like one road I travel on).
Since you just had everything apart, and know how it goes, it should go pretty fast to put another washer in. Also you won't have to clean out the grease as its new, just put another dab around the new washer.
This may be a bandaid type fix, I don't really know, but it does seem to work. Its also possible the kingpin is worn out, but honestly, with the way its designed, the plastic cup would wear, not the metal kingpin. And the spring should counteract any wear by forcing the plastic cup down as it wears. Before I found out about using the washers to shim it, I did replace the lower bearing, the plastic cup, spring, and all the seals on the passenger side (where it seems to start on my truck at least). I didn't have the tools to replace the kingpin itself, and except for a little bit of pitting, it looked fine. The plastic cups looked exactly alike too, except for the grease on the old one.
Since you just had everything apart, and know how it goes, it should go pretty fast to put another washer in. Also you won't have to clean out the grease as its new, just put another dab around the new washer.
This may be a bandaid type fix, I don't really know, but it does seem to work. Its also possible the kingpin is worn out, but honestly, with the way its designed, the plastic cup would wear, not the metal kingpin. And the spring should counteract any wear by forcing the plastic cup down as it wears. Before I found out about using the washers to shim it, I did replace the lower bearing, the plastic cup, spring, and all the seals on the passenger side (where it seems to start on my truck at least). I didn't have the tools to replace the kingpin itself, and except for a little bit of pitting, it looked fine. The plastic cups looked exactly alike too, except for the grease on the old one.
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