Good morning, all, and happy new year!

I have a 1973 F-100 2WD I'm building (first build). I need new kingpins, and, in the process of hammering out the old pins, I have managed to mess up the threads on the spindle for grease caps. I found where a 1 1/16-16 tap should work for it, but I also dinged up the lip around it. So I decided just to hit the reset button and buy a replacement spindle rather than trying to make what I have work.

I went through old threads. The first info I found stated that "1973/79 F-100 2WD, 1975/79 F150 2WD use the same spindles". So I found a nearby junkyard to pull and ship me a spindle from a 1978 F150." However, when I realized the pins were different in 78 from 73, I did some more digging. Now, I'm getting some conflicting info, and I wanted to see if someone could help set me straight. Another thread states that "73-74 disc spindles fit 65-74 beams, and 75-79 spindles fit the 75-79 beams". In this case, the spindle I ordered wouldn't work.

The 73 king pin dimensions are .8592" x 6.353". The 78 king pin dimensions are .8593" x 6.483".

So my questions: Will the spindle from the 78 F-150 fit the 73 F-100 beam? If so, do I need to buy separate king pin sets to have the correct length? Is the .0001" on diameter going to make a difference here?

I'm really close to just calling the junkyard and telling them to keep the spindle if they haven't shipped it, tapping the grease cap threads, cleaning up the dings and nicks, and using what I have.

Thanks all!

Seth