I'm working on a 1955 2nd series, 3100. One of the spindles on this truck had a large wear gouge on it right where the bearing sat. Probably a result of the butchery that this truck has suffered over the years. The bizarre things that I've found during disassembly really keeps me amused. Anyway, while I was hunting for a replacement spindle I cleaned and painted the original axle. The king pin system is the thrust washer type. I read through numerous posts and Grigg Mullen's tech paper on king pin replacements. And I picked up a king pin set (thrust washer type) too.
When I bought an entire 1957 axle assembly from a local guy bc he wouldn't sell just a spindle, I noticed that it was the thrust bearing type. It came apart easily and I cleaned up and painted the spindles. I'm ready to assemble but......now I'm wondering if I should clean up and paint the '57 axle beam too, get another king pin set (trust bearing type) and go that route. I kind of dread prepping and painting another axle beam and shelling out clams for another king pin set. So now the question....is it worth it in the long run to go the thrust bearing route vs. sticking with thrust washers? Opinions welcome.
