On my 69, my radius arm bushings are hard as a rock. Have some to replace them. Started to tackle it, but backed away.
1. Remove tire/wheel;
2. Disconnect lower shock bolt;
3. remove coil spring nut and washer;
4. remove nut from back of radius arm bushing.

At that point, I realized when lowered, the front assembly would be supported by the brake hose.
So do I need to remove the king pin to do this?
When I did my 71, I was removing everything anyway, so no big deal.
So what am I missing here?

 

Being that I just recently installed new ('77 F-100) I-beams/discs on my '69 and installed new kingpins/bushings myself, I think it would be VERY difficult to remove the kingpins with the I-beams still on/under the truck and even move difficult to re-install them, while on the truck.

I suppose the choices are:

1. Unhook the brake line and let the I-beam droop.

2. Tie the I-beam up to the upper spring pocket to limit downward travel of the I-beam.

3. Unhook the brake line and remove the I-beam from the truck to get the radius arm out.


... on second thought, if the radius arm bushings are shot, the I-beam pivot bushing are probably in similar shape as well. If you are this far into removing parts, to get the radius arms off, it would probably be best to remove the I-beams and put new bushings in them too. The kingpins could probably stand to be replaced as well.

--No sense in half-a$$ing it when you have a prime opportunity to put on fresh parts that are important to both steering and handling control. It will mean more expense and down time on the truck but, what is the value of your safety or, the value to the safety of a loved one or friend riding in the truck with you?

(ultraranger ' s trying to throw a guilt trip on the guy) Seriously though, the front suspension/steering components being in good condition is vitally important. It's not something to cut corners or cost on.

 

Thought about having the i-beam bushings swapped out, too. Kingpins - if the 32K is miles accurate (and I believe it is) I would think should be OK. Also, when I had it inspected, they put it on the rack and one of the things he checked was travel at the king pins (one move barely, the other not at all).
In any event, it sounds like pulling the kingpins is in my future to:
allow disconnecting the hub from the i-beam;
possibly removing the i-beam for new bushings.

 

If the kingpin on one side has slack in it, might as well replace both. That little bit of slack at the kingpin translates to a significant amount of movement by the time you get to the outer circumference of the tire.

The movement from the slack will cause the front end to wallow ('tramlining' or also known as 'nibbling') while traveling on a roadway that has rutting of the pavement. It's like the wheels are being turned, because the tires are trying to follow the ruts and makes the front end dart back and forth, when you aren't actually moving the steering wheel.

The condition and type of tire can also contribute to tramlining. Couple this with slack in the front end and you can see that the problem would just be compounded.

Tramlining - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If the 32,000 miles is accurate, something must have been terribly wrong with that factory kingpin. Greased regularly, you should easily get 100,000, or more, miles out of them (with the metal, not plastic, bushings).

Even for the trucks age, I wouldn't see the radius arm bushings being shot from that few a miles on them. I'm having doubts the truck has that few (true) miles on it. The described wear of these parts suggests the truck has more like 132,000 miles on it (at least).

 

Bushings were not worn - pulled the outer bushing on one side - they are just hard as a rock. Essentially what rubber will do in this Texas heat after 45 years.

 

FYI... Flyboy documented his bushing work: Flyboy2610's DIY: Replacing King Pins & Bushings (LOTS of pics!)

 

I changed the bushings without removing the i-beams. If I remember correctly (and it has been a couple of years and my memory isn't what it used to be) I tied a come-along to the axle and a tree after removing the nut from the radius arm and created enough room to change the bushing. I do remember needing to tie the come-along to the rear axle to pull the radius arm back into place so I could put the nut back on. This is not the Motors Manual way to do it, but it is what the local shops will do to save time. With that said, I suggest, as stated above, that you might as well do the whole job if your bushings are shot. My center bushing had already been changed. I would suggest changing all worn parts while you are at it if your budget allows. Over the years I have replaced most of my steering and front suspension and it would have been easier to disassemble all of it and then had the front end aligned.

 

2X. While I personally have never done it, I've heard other guys say they've done it this way.

 

Well in my case, no trees or posts to attach a come-along to, so I will be stuck with a more traditional approach.
1. Pull the tires;
2. Remove the king ping and set the front hub to the side;
3. unbolt lower shock mount;
4. unbolt lower bolt on spring;
5. remove spring retainer;
6. possibly unbolt I-beam;
7. Drop i-beam and radius arm as an assembly.

 

How 'bout attaching a come-along to the frame or bumper brackets of another vehicle?

 

could just cut the rivets holding the mounts in place. Then replace with grade 8 bolts and lock washers. That is how we did it in the shops I worked in years ago.

 

This method of cutting the rivets proved to be a bear in my driveway. had trouble getting the kingpins out, parts that have been together for 44 years don't like being separated. At any rate as I seen some one previously posted tie the I beam up with some rope or something and go ahead and do those axel pivot bushings at the same time best bet your already down there. That's the way I went and it couldn't have gone smoother, also my axel pivot bushings were shot so the ride afterwords was like night and day

 

Dropping the springs, king pins, etc. will give me an opportunity to spend some more money using Por15 on it (:
I do have a question regarding just cutting the rivets on the bracket - do you remove the rivets, drop the bracket, remove the old bushings, install new bushings and simply (haha) put the bracket back up and bolt in place? You don't have to do some wedging/compressing to get the bracket with new bushings in place to line up with the holes for the bracket?

 

When you changed the pivot bushings did you leave the ibeams tied off? I need to replace one axle pivot bushing for sure but can't do the down time of pulling everything apart.

 

I left it tied up just with enough slack to move it around after I disconnected it