Today I realized that I need to replace my right king pin on my 1948 F-1. So I searched here to see what is involved. So my understanding is to drive king pin out with a hammer and punch (With the king pin key removed). Then do I need to get my spindles reamed? Then reverse the process to put new king pins in. So is this pretty much it? If not please tell me. I have the basic understanding because my dad did it on his Model A Sedan.

Thanks for the help,
hotrod48

 

I have been having hell doing mine - yes it is simple to drive the pin out, and to remove the bushings in the spindles. New bushings should be pressed in, and there is a roller bearing on the bottom of the axle that should be replaced. It is a simple matter then to press the new king pin into the axle.

And the books all claim that you need to ream the things - except they have been reaming me. I have replaced the kingpins on a 72, and a 66 with no problems - but this 59 is giving me fits. Those kits had nylon bushings, this one has bronze.

I now suspect that the kit I bought came with oversized bushings - and the king pin will never install.

I have the axle off the truck and am taking the entire mess to a machine shop to see what I am doing wrong. Before this happened I would have told you that it is a simple Saturday job -

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will come along and tell us both what we need to know.

Sorry if I am hijacking your thread, but I am totally flustrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WillyB thanks for the added info. I hope mine goes smoothly, as our Model A wasn't that difficult except for finding the right king pins (It has an older Pete & Jakes dropped axle). Your not hijacking my thread, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone.

Thanks,
hotrod48

 

Well I did mine.. And from what I learned was if it has brass bushing that the new bushing need to be reamed to fit the new king pin..

 

New kingpins want new bushings and the bushings want to be line reamed for proper fit. Take it to a machinist... probably get it done for under 50 bucks.

well pinned, himmelberg

 

Thanks guys for reaming info. My dad has an old hotrodder buddy that has the reamer so it will cost just the gas to get to his house.

Thanks,
hotrod48

 

The bushing are oversized when you get them. The bushings need to be reamed to fit the King Pin. I bought a reamer and used a ratchet to turn the reamer to ream the bushing, it worked fin. The king pin was a snug fit I had to tap it in with a rubber makket.

 

Where did you buy the reamer? is it a common tool you can get at any parts house?

Want to sell yours?

 

It's cheaper to have it reamed that to buy the reamer new for a one time use.

 

Semi-hijack here:

Where exactly are the thin metal shims in the kit supposed to go? No mention of them in the factory manual.

Ron

 

Howdy Y'all,

This is one of those "been there, done that and got the tee-shirt to prove it!" things!


I did this a few months ago with my F-600.

1. You can buy the king pin kit from NAPA and others. It comes from Rare Parts.
http://www.rareparts.com/ They will not sell retail.

It comes with all the "stuff"

btw, those shims go above the axle..<6.-...they shim the up/down slop in the steering spindle. I ended up with 3 shims in each side. All the front end wieght is carried by the king pin thrust bearings.


I also ended up taking my axle to a front end shop to get it and the bushings reamed. It's like line boring an engine. You need to use a precision hone to do it. This place had a Sunnen hone especially made for reaming axles and bushings AND I had to get 0.010 over sized kingpins and bushings because mine were a little egg shaped. (I found this out AFTER I already bought a standard sized kingpin kit and to take it back!... Napa wasn't happy to take it back either.)

The front end shop (American Frame & Axle, Kent, WA) Charged me about $175 for the whole job including the parts. It was well worth it! Everything went back together and it steers just fine now. (the steering box probably needs to be adjusted though).


Regards,


./Rick

 

I bought mine off of Ebay for $50.00, I figure I can use it on my next truck also. A 1950 Ford Telephone truck.

 

Does anyone happen to know the part number for king pins from NAPA for my 1948 F-1? I figured this would help the NAPA people out.

Thanks,
hotrod48

 

The Napa people should be able to find it. You can also go to an alignment shop and they can order it for you too. They can also ream the new bushings after you install them or they can do the whole job for you. It's not that expensive if you remove the axle and take it to them.


You really need to determine if you might need oversize pins before you order them though. I made that mistake. I ordered a kingpin kit not knowing I really needed a 0.010 oversize kit. I ended up taking it back and getting the oversize kit after the fact!

 

I used to rebuild straight axles for air port equipment and whenever our supplier would run out of the cheap kits with the bushings that need reamed we would get the next step up with brass bushings that didn't need to be reamed. They pressed in like the standard brass bushings but had a perfect fit every time. They were dimpled inside and had some type coating inside but I just can't remember what they are called. I'm gonna hafta dig up some old associates and see if they remember who the supplier was. Does anyone know the diameter of the king pins?
Jeff