Trying to pull my kingpins, in anticipation of the new kingpin set mid-fifty is sending me. Is there a trick???

I've loosened the nuts, whacked them good with a rubber mallet, tried to push them out with a big C-clamp.... so far they have not budged at all.

My tie-rod ends were equally stuck, I managed to get those out with a BFH approach, but destroyed both the castle nuts and threads (ends were already garbage). Was trying not to equally destroy the lockpins, but I'm also not even sure there isn't something else I'm supposed to do, before I take it out.

 

The locks are easily available, get out the BFH. One big whack is worth a hundred tentative ones.

 

Rubber mallet won't do it, a BFH is needed. The king pin sets usually come with new pins. You should be using a Pickle Fork for the ball joints, not a BFH

 

i used a ball joint tool to press the king pins out..damn near broke the tool, used some old sockets as spacers to help press it out..use lots of penetrating oil, and even a little bit of heat..little bit being key.. they'll come out!

 

The locking pins should come out with a couple of light taps mine did anyway. Out here in the garage putting them back in the truck now but I have to redrill for the grease zerk as I have front disc brake conversion and the caliper bracket blocks the upper zerk.

 

A BFLSRG is way better ;-) It will come out in a hurry.

 

Thanks to all. A couple of mildly aggressive whacks on the locking pins, and they came right out. Kingpins also came out with only mild to medium force. So now I have a couple of questions that I hope the community brain can help me understand better...

Question 1:
My pins really didn't wobble much at all. I could feel it and (barely) see it, with the wheel/tire on. Striped down to just the spindle it was tough to detect at all..... am I violating the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule? I'm honestly a little worried that chinese parts, machine shop that may/may not do it exactly right, and me putting it back together will end up worse than it was.

Question 2:
I rarely see any mention of working with the axle as part of a kingpin replacement. As I looked at it last night, I couldn't help feel that the axle might be subject wear just like the bushings and kingpin. Should I be doing something to examine / restore the axle as part of the kingpin replacement? If not.... why not? Just curious.

Thanks! Watch for my next question on steering arms. I like to make more threads that should be easier for those that follow after me to find.... to help spread your collective expertise more effectively. Awesome stuff here, sometimes it takes too much digging to find it buried on page 54 of a 60 page thread....

 

Let sleeping dogs lie, if the kingpins are good, no reason to do anything. Clean everything up real good, slide the pin in, and see how much play there is. Grease can mask clearance.

As far as the axle, the pin should be a nice tight fit in the bore. With a clean pin and bore, you should not feel any wobble. The kingpin is locked into the axle, no "wear" from turning. But they can get sloppy, much bigger deal to fix than if the bushings are worn.