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8/14/19 Today I tackled the removal of the kin pins. I first tried to loosened the king pin retaining pins from their taper by loosening the nut, turning it to the end of the thread so the nut protected the thread then tapping on the nut to drive out the pin. This was starting to distort the thread and the the retaining pin didn’t budge, so I threaded the nut down so it just had about a 1/16” gap between the nut and the steering knuckle, then added a second nut to aid in protecting the thread. This did the trick and I was able to hit the pins with enough force to get the pin to move, then I reset the nuts to drive the pins out. On to removal of the grease caps. I used a Dremel with a wafer wheel to grind out the punch marks retaining the caps, then drilled a 1/4” hole in each cap to give me something to pry on. Using a small cold chisel, I was able to remove the caps. The king pins were easy to get out. I used my new 20 ton HF press but I could just driven them out with a punch and a hammer. Thats because they looked new and appears to have just been replaced by a previous owner without addressing the real issue. Unfortunately it’s the ID of the steering knuckle where the OD of the bushing rides that is worn. I took measurements of the pins and of the bushings and they appeared perfect. The ID of the spindles are worn. The good news is that the axle is in great shape. Nice and straight and the ID of the holes where the king pins attach are perfect.

The clearance was as follows:
Drivers: .003” on the top and .005” on the bottom.
Passengers: .002” on the top and .006” on the bottom.

It appears that I need oversized bushings and a reamer to match, or the complete replacement of the spindles. A subsequent search on the internet returned zero results in both scenario’s. After posting on “Stovebolt” forums, it was suggested to use Loctite 660 to fill in the gap and secure the bushings. This apparently is a common and accepted practice in the industry. It has a second advantage of preventing additional wear on the steering knuckle. What a relief knowing I don’t have to replace the scarce steering knuckles.