I thought I made a post earlier today but now can't find it so maybe I didn't do something right.

I'm in the process of trying to make my truck road worthy again. I've been driving it since I got it back on the road more than 18 years ago but now it's starting to need repairs like any well used vehicle.

I thought I had everything on the front end taken care of but when I went to have the front end aligned yesterday I was told the king pins were bad. I was sure my dad installed new pins in the truck right before he stopped driving it back in the mid '70s and I figure these were the types of items that took some time to wear out. I could have been mistaken about my dad doing them.

Anyways, the question I have is there are two different sized pins kits offered, one slightly wider than the other; .8120" x 5.860" vs. .8220" x 5.860". Is the larger set made for axles with slightly worn holes?

A second question I have is bushing and bearings. I read a few older FTE posts about king pins using bushings and bearings. I know you have to ream bushings but the posters said you don't have to ream bearings. I understand why you couldn't ream bearings, you'd tear them up, but why aren't the bushings made to fit without reaming? Is it because the bushings collapse slightly when pushed into the spindles? Do the bearings fit slightly looser? Some one posted that the tighter the fit the longer they will last. If they're loose there is more hammering of the parts which wears them out faster.

BTW, from what I read bearing are slightly better than bushings, but not much so I'm going with the stock type bushing set up. I am also going to replace the tie rods even though they don't seem to good but I'm sure they'll go out right after I get the truck off the lift after replacing the king pins.

 

This is for either your 1948 F1 or 1949 F2, correct?

The following is the only king pin kit listed for your applications in the 1948/56 Ford truck parts catalog.

21A-3111-B .. King Pin Kit (kit does both sides) / Obsolete

21A-3115 pins: .81" O.D. x 5.86" long / B-3123 bearings stamped with BIN: T83 / Obsolete

Applications: 1948/52 F1/F2/F3 // 1942/47 Commercial (1/2 ton) & 122" wheelbase Truck.

BIN: Bearing Industry Number that bearing shops/autoparts stores go by.

 

They need to be reamed because they do get collapsed a little by being pressed into the spindle, and it's also to align the two. The spindle may have become a little twisted or bent in use, reaming to final diameter in place puts everything right. If you keep them greased and don't drive thru water they seem to last a real long time.

 

Bill,

Rock Auto has two MOOG kits with bushings and two Raybestos kits with bearings listed. All the other places like Mac's, Classic Haulers and NAPA list only one kit. I was just currious why Rock has two different kits of each type.

Ross, I understand the need to ream the bushings. I was just curious why you can just use the bearings without doing anything to them. I think it was one of your replies to one of the post I found that mentioned someone telling you the tighter the fit of the bushings the longer they will last because there is less room for hammering action. Do the bearing fit a little looser so they can take up the slight misalignment there might be? Also from what I read there isn't much of an advantage to using bearing over bushings other than not having to have some one ream them out.

The alignment place I went to, who was highly recommended by the tire shop and by my regular repair shop, said he'd work with me on the cost of doing the reaming since I was coming back to him to have the front end aligned. He did tell me I'd be looking at $500 to have the king pins replaced and aligned if he did them both. He charges $95 just for the alignment but is one of the few places around here that still does I-beam alignments. I talked to a couple of places who advertize front end alignments and they all drew a blank when I mentioned the I-beam.

 

Whoa... Hold on, those prices are pretty steep.

If the kingpins are really stuck, you may want a shop to get them out. But with your lift, even if you had to drop the axle so you can wail on them, it's just not that bad a job. (If you have the time) Mine came out pretty easily. Once the spindles are off, (and the brakes) most NAPA shops can press the old bushings out and install the new ones, and ream or hone them. I took the spindles and new bushings in to NAPA and had them press in the bushings, and use a Sunnen hone for final "reaming" and the cost was under $50.

For the alignment, unless he is figuring to bend the axle to correct camber, or take off the springs to correct caster, all there is to set on a beam axle is toe-in, which takes maybe half an hour, being generous. For $95 I got a 4-wheel alignment on my Porsche (IFS/IRS).

 

Ross, his $500 estimate was for all the parts, removing the spindles, installing and reaming the bushings, the whole works including the alignment. It's a number he threw at me while we were standing under the truck. He told me to get the parts and if I thought I could do it myself he would just ream out the bushings. With the lift it shouldn't be too bad of a project. Even without the lift I'd have to do them myself, I couldn't afford to have some one else do it for me.

I called around, in this area $95 seemed liked the going price from the few places that still work on I-beam axles. If they have to bend the axle he said it would be $150, one place said $250. I don't think that place wanted to screw with an old truck. I drive past his shop quite often and he has big trucks lined up outside and I'm sure he gets BIG $$$ to work on them.

 

21A-3111-B =

ANTIQUE AUTO SUPPLY in Arlington TX has 1 = 817-275-2381.

GREEN SALES CO. in Cincinnati OH has 2 = 800-543-4959.

If you get one of these king pin kits, make sure it has the B suffix.

The A suffix: 1942/48 Ford/Merc Passenger Cars.

NOTE: Also available from Carpenter @ $50.00 / Listed as: 21A-3111

 

I found a MOOG set of kingpins on EBay for $35.00. Removed the old kingpins and took the spindles to local machine shop and they put in the new bearings and did the reaming for $49.00.

 

The larger size would be for when the bushing wore thru to actual axle/spindle and beat on them

 

Have you verified the king pins are actually bad? Quite easy to find a bit of wheel bearing slop and say, "Your king pins or ball joints are worn". Most shop manuals have wear limits explained and limits are not that hard to check. The manual for my '56 indicates that anything over 1/32" measured at the backing plate should be re-bushed. Granted, 1/32" ain't much. Guess I am a skeptic.

 

i bought oversized ones for mine as the oe axle under the old frame was wallowed out , but the 55 i parted out and kept the front axle from is fine , so now i got to buy standard sized king pins and kit so look before you leap or you get to spend more money like the resident idgit here bob . and nothing is stuck permanently either . the 55 i bought for parts had been sitting in a field for longer than my customline had been in it's tomb (44 years ) and they were not budging when i attempted it . so i soaked them daily for about a month with any kind of penetrating oil i had here , and fianlly on the day i tried them again i used a pencil torch held by my garage buddy / granddaughter reese , directly on the axlle , and used a homemade punch of the right diameter and proceeded to smack 'em with a 3 pound sledge they came out so easy it suprised me !

 

I used to watch (help) my father do king pins & bushings on Telephone trucks in the 40's & 50's. If the pin was a loose fit in the axle he would heat the axle with his cutting torch to cherry red and let it cool to shrink it. He would press the bushings in with a screw press and ream them to a push fit with a taper pin reamer. It had a pilot on the opposite end to keep it true. He turned it with a large tap wrench. All this was done by hand. It took about 15 min. per spindle.

 

Heat does a lot better than any oil, in my experience. I had a '53 that I had to get the axle really hot, then they pushed out easily.

 

MOOG Part # 8350B $34.79
.8120" x 5.860" king pin; metal bushing; Front

MOOG Part # 8440B $36.89
.8220" x 5.860" king pin; metal bushing; Front

RAYBESTOS Part # 5301034 $42.99
Professional Grade
Contains Ball Bearing And Metal Bushing

RAYBESTOS Part # 5301034010 $47.79
Professional Grade
Contains Ball Bearing And Metal Bushing; Oversize

Rock is a sponsor of FTE

Both Mac's and Classic haulers were about $20 more, sorry Candi if you're reading this but I have to save a buck when I can. NAPA had them listed for around $75.

I usually check is eBay first for parts for my vehicle and business, I've found some great deals there, believe or not. I did check this time and found a set for about the same price as Rock but I need a few other parts, which Rock also has so I will go with them.

That's what I thought. The front end guy told me to make sure the axle wasn't worn, if it was he knows a guy who can install a busing. I'll wait until I have the truck apart to make sure what I have to do.

I didn't notice any movement for some reason when I had the truck up on my lift, I was alone at the time, but at the alignment shop I could definitely see movement when the alignment guy moved them.

Yeah, Kevin, will do. I don't need to buy anything extra. I also have an extra axle on a frame I have sitting in the back of the farm. On thing, the panel truck I had a little while ago that I parted out and got the steering box from had a pretty decent front axle. I welded the spindles solid and used it to replace the old Dodge axle under the farm generator. I wish I had known about the condition of my F-2's axle at the time, the F-2's axle would sitting under the generator right now.

Those old mechanics made everything look easy. My dad was the same way. Their experience made it look easy, for me I'd rather take them in and have someone who has the experience and proper tools do it.

I like heat, heat is good. That's how I remove pitman arms. Get the collar around the splined shaft red hot, but not melting, and they'll pop right off with a pickling fork. Let them air cool and they'll be fine.

I usually do everything in four steps, spray penetrant, let soak, apply wrench or screw driver, if the part doesn't want to come loose then the gas wrench. Works pretty much every time. Having a BFH handy helps too.

 

I was able to use a punch to knock mine out. Then I used a large C clamp to press the new ones in. It worked rather well.
But I highly recommend having the new bushings honed. That recommendation was made to me by others in the forum. I was going to use an expandable reamer. But I took the advice of the FTE's finest. I called a local shop, $50 later they were honed and fit just perfect.
I bought my King Pins at O'Reilly's.