I took my 72 F100 to Big O for tires and the guy said I needed new King Pins. The truck travels straight down the road and doesn't pull to either side. One tire is not wearing more than the other. Do these facts mean anything? I jacked it up and there is just a tiny bit of slop. How do you know when it's time to replace these? The shop wants $700 to do it. If I don't have this done is it possible that the wheel could fall off? I'm not sure what to do.
Thanks

 

Tire shops are notorious for fright. Jack the front tire off the ground and grab the tire top and bottom and rock it for play. 1/16 to 1/8" you should be ok. Unless it is flopping badly get a second opinion.

$700.00 is a bit extreme in my book.


John

 

Like John says, jack it up and wiggle it from the bottom. Make sure it's not just wheel bearings.

Wheel likely won't ever just fall off, or it would be steering really bad. The worst part of changing pins is getting the old ones out. $700 is a bit steep, as the kit(parts) is probably only $60? if that. Get a few other options and prices. Make sure they put in BRASS bushings, not the PLASTIC ones. There is a difference and lifespan.

 

Fright or not, I say if you've got play you can feel fix it. :)
You can do it. :)
We'll help any way we can.

It'll involve taking it apart and putting it back together. :)
Cleaning the parts and taking a couple of the parts to an
automotive machine shop.

Got a service manual?

Alvin in AZ

 

yeah 700 bucks sounds outrageous to me. it driving fine and handling fine just means that your alignment is good, and your linkages and rag joint are decent. what is a huge symptom of bad kingpins though is if you hit a bump or pothole and it tosses you into the next lane. although this is an exaggeration, but when you do hit a bump or uneven pavement youll know it, cause its jerking that wheel whichever way it wants to and the spindle isnt sturdy enough to take it and stay where it is. i have had a bad one on the passenger side ever since i got the truck. oh well. works fine for me. one things for sure if i ever was going to replace it i would unbolt the entire ibeams from the truck and have a friend bring me to a machine shop to have them done. them tire shops are good for a laugh, i had one tell me one time that i need new upper ball joints. and the price they give you on labor is estimated with their computer for 5 hours, but theyll get it done in 1 yet not call you until 5 hours later to pick it up, and you can expect a 30% markup from them ontop of whatever the part retails for at an autozone. and they get their parts way cheaper than retail. best thing to do in my honest opinion is avoid an auto mechanic completely. youll only find 1 out of 100 thats honest and not looking to rip you off or take the law into their own hands since they have your keys and your car is in their garage behind their door. they dont care if they jip you and you never come back again. greed and stupidity always takes over....and in the long run it never saves you time. you have to take time off work or go down there on the weekend, wait for them to do the job, then go back and pick it up, how much time did that save you? best thing to do is just be a man and get your hands dirty so you learn something AND save time AND save money.

 

When you hire a mechanic or plumber etc you are paying them to do a job
as fast as they can. It's not about doing an extra good job it's about "good
enough".

The reason I fix my own flats is it's quicker and easier for me to fix the flat
than to wait at least twice the time it takes them to fix it myself.

A bead breaker is the one tool a guy generally doesn't have that's needed.

The simple hand tools needed for the king pin removal will pay for themselves
with the first king pin job and will be used over and over for other jobs.

Time?
If you sit and wait on it you can do it just about as fast as they can.
They won't be working on only yours, the whole time.

I enjoy doing it myself.
Fixing my own flats is fun. LOL :)
I never said I wasn't crazy and Rusty pointed out neither is anyone else. ;)

This weekend a neighbor kid has a leaky tire on his Mustang we'll fix.

Alvin is easily entertained in AZ

 

Alvin, Aren't you glad that you can state your opinion here like the rest of us.

You could be a lazy bum and pay for everything to be done on your truck, or not. I have never met you.

Many of us think that is too much to pay a tire store that probably don't know squat about an ol Ford truck. That is IMHO!



John

 

Ya know, if you still have drums up front, now is the time to fix it up- Find yourself a 73-79 F100 with good kingpins and swap it over...................
You could buy a parts truck for less than they want in repairs, and make most of it back selling off what you don't use.

 

Yeah, it's cool, I've been a newsgroup junky from way back in the early 90's
my son was/is a geek and when they first started branching out to other
things besides computer related stuff I got on and have spewed crap ever'
since. LOL :)

I still feel kinda funny being over here on the sissy website forums. :/

Everybody hold hands... ;)
A thread is something we build together, the dumbest crap can be posted
and turn a hum-drum thread into a keeper after drawing those that actually
know something, out into the open.

For sure! :)
I special ordered it and there's like 5 things that's been fixed on it I didn't do.
It's mine, there are many like it but this one is mine and it shows, it's nothing
special to look at, but everything on it works as good or better than new!
No kidding on that. :)

I don't have a humble opinions, only honest ones. ;)
I know that when I got my pickup back from the dealerships after changing
my own I beam (in for alignment work see?) they didn't do anything but
adjust the toe-in to be way too stinkin much both (and only 2) times.

The dealership themselves couldn't do that good enough to suit me. :/
I know better than to go near a Ford dealership now. LOL :)

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/toe-in1.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/toe-in2.jpg

With that setup you can experiment a little and figure out what you like best.

Alvin in AZ
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/rideheight.jpg

 

Ah the tire shop terror stories. I think those guys go to school to learn how to scare the snot out of people. If you don't want to tackle the job yourself try getting a couple of other estimates. My guess is they sublet the job to another shop and add a couple $100 to the price.

I had a flat while out of town and took my DD to one of those outfits to get it replaced. Without my permission they decided to do a complimentary brake inspection. A very worried looking service manager hustled me out to the roped in area of the shop where he and the " certified " mechanic explained to me that I was facing certain death unless I spent about $1000 replacing every part in the brake system. I told them to put the truck back together and I'd take it as it was. He said they couldn't do that due to liability issues and I'd have to let them fix it. Wrong move, wrong customer. The evil genie in me explained that unless they put my truck back together I was going to call the local law and my lawyer. Since this was in PA I would also call the PA State Police since this shop is licensed to do the required state vehicle inspections. Stunts like that could easily get their license pulled and inspections generate a lot of revenue for shops. They caved in when I started dialing my cell.

Did I mention I explained all of this in easy earshot of the customer waiting area?

 

stand back and look at the front of the truck, if the wheels are knock kneed(sagging in) they need replacing...............if you dont have front disc brakes i would suggest them.

 

That's a good idea if you know the front springs are good.

I used to put enough weight in my old E250 to make it knock kneed and the pins were fine.

 

You NAILED it! Except these peeps don't go to school, the school comes to them.

Road men that represent the various companies come out and hold seminars at the shops.

What is taught? How to sell needless parts and service (aka screw the customer).

Most of the mechanics and service writers are paid on a commission basis. So...the more they sell.....the more money they make.

Do any of y'all remember what happened at one major retailer about 10 years ago?

They were selling shocks...LOTS of shocks to dang near every service customer.

This jazz went on for years. When a class action lawsuit was finally brought against this retailer, they lost. Had to pay millions of dollars in restitutions and fines.

I'm not gonna mention the name...but this company has been around a lot longer than the automobile.

 

If it's who I'm thinking of their catalogs were often joked about as being an essential item in outhouses.

 

I was thinkin' of typing something similar about what a great bathroom reader their catalogs made.

Their catalogs became as passe as the outhouses...so...they're no longer in the catalog biz.