Saw a reference to bearing-supported kingpins in a recent thread here. The supplier’s site is here:

http://www.ssbrakes.com/products/sea...=King+Pin+Kits

and a sample installation is shown here:

http://www.classictrucksweb.com/tech/0101ct_kingpin/

The problem is that they don’t offer a kit for 1960 F-100’s and the guy on the phone today wasn’t too forthcoming about bearing sizes, etc. After looking at the installation link, though, it looks like you might be able to implement this on your own. It seems that once you engineered the bearing specs, you’d get a shop to turn down the ends of a kingpin to fit. Anyone here have any info or thoughts on:

What side load would the bearing need to resist given a static wheel load of, say, ¼ of the vehicle weight? Figure the maximum the kingpin could take is in single shear at the top or bottom of the spindle.

How much interference fit would you want between the bearing outer race OD and the axle bore ID?

How much clearance would you want between the bearing ID and the turned-down section of the kingpin?

Is a standard lathe able to turn the hardened steel of a kingpin? Would the kingpin need to be rehardened once you were done?

The royal kingpin idea looks pretty slick, but it’s bugging me that they don’t offer a kit for my truck. Any help would be appreciated.

John Boyd

 

Why dont you just get the right king pin set?

 

The standard off-the-shelf parts house king pin set I bought for my 59 came with those same bearings - the set I took off also had the bearings.

What makes these special? What am I missing?

 

The bushings that fit inside the spindle are not brass, but needle bearings with this kit. -4speed

 

I've always thought there was too much friction in the king pins, even when adequately lubed and with the bushings line honed to spec. The Delrin bushings on the '71 F-100 I had were garbage (maybe not when new, but certainly when I got hold of it) and the 2 or 3 subsequent brass-bushed sets over the next 200k miles never seemed easy enough even when well-lubed. I'm thinking a engineered needle bearing set has the possibility of giving much less rotational friction.

After some more thought, it'd seem I'm bound to lose some lateral strength since you're losing sectional area of the king pin. Hope there's some overdesign in the king pin and figure if the bearing set could be thin enough to carry a reasonable non-off-roading load, the loss of king pin area would not rule out its use. Alternately, you could get the axle ends bored out, but that seems like more work, you're losing area/strength there too and you'd have to find larger end seal caps. This '60 F-100 is a daily driver for my daughter and me, not a hauler or off-roader.

 

I have a F-100 60 as a daily driver.. and the basic king ping work just fine.. If U want to make it easyer than its time for a toyota power steering box conversion..

 

Madathlon, been avoiding it but you're probably right. I don't find it that tough, but was out with my 16 yr old a few nights ago and, although she didn't do too bad, it's just a little too much for her. Krautwolf Mike ran down the Toyota deal back for me last summer; time to bite the bullet.

 

If it helps, kingpins from 53-60 were the same on ford trucks. -4speed

 

I'd be concerned about not getting lubrication to the bearing when on the highway. This is a good applicaton for a bushing or a babbited bearing.

 

Mr4SpeedFord, thanks for the info, that's good to know. It dovetails with SSBrakes' current offering for '42-'52 Ford trucks and their e-mail today saying they're working on that design and should be available in the spring. We'll see; don't think I have 'til then regard my daughter and this truck, so I'm guessing the Toyota setup will be in by then.

MGraveman, my understanding is that the bearings fit inboard of the end caps and zerk fittings and spend their lives bathing in a sea of axle grease (or are supposed to). They’d get the same lube that the brass/bronze bushings get now.

 

my concern would be a wallowing out of the rollers. bearings put the stress in a very localized area, which is not good for non rotating, high impact loads.

what can happen is the contact patch where the rollers touch the race will not have lubrication. Lubrication in a bearing only happens when the rollers rotate, even in an oil bath. This will damage the bearings.

Further, I do not see the advantage to cutting friction here, the majority of the friction is at the tires.

 

I know several people that have the installed in the cars, some daily drivers and they swear by them.
I'll be putting them in my Panel along with a ToyBox.

 

well, to answer your question, I would start with a .0015 interference fit.

I need to know the difference from the center of the tire to the king pin, and the length between bearings on the kingpin.

Your lathe should be able to do it, but if it won't, a heavier one to keep vibration down will. You should not have to take much off so the hardening should not really be affected. You can have it metalized up to the next size if that is easier, so that you do not have to remove meaterial.

get me those measurements and I will do the math for you.

all that said, you know what my opinion of it is.

 

M-,

Thanks. Going down to Charlottesville for the Tech-UVa game today; I'll see if I can get some measurements tomorrow.