The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop King pin removal, good old fashioned fun

Ok I I finaly removed my king pin locks. That was fun let me tell ya! So now its the king pins turn. Do i need to drive them down or drive them up? Or does it matter?
Ive been soaking them down with liquid wrench. Any body have any handy tips on how to get them out?

Go to Tech Tips and read KOOLKAR'S King Pin removal, great tip, here's how I did it...
My last major project was 'encouraging out' the old king pins. Koolkar suggested using the weight of the vehicle and a generous soaking w/ PB Blaster to achieve success. In my case it worked like a charm.
The truck is lifted and properly supported while you remove the backing plate and coat-hanger it off to the side. I then created a stable vertical support for my brass drift by drilling a common hole into a stack of 10"X10", 2X12 board scraps then securing the stack together with 3 " wood screws. This created a stable vertical support for my 6" brass drift. Upon removal of the king pin end caps I then lowered the king pin onto my home-made brass drift assembly.
The goal is just to get the stubborn king pin started so only 1-2" of drop is allowed before 2 jack stands await the front I beam for safety. I would come around and give a dozen good blows to the outside of the vertical king pin assembly with a five lb. sledge and a squirt of PB then go back to listening to Public Broadcasting Saturday AM and then come back after another half hour or so. Once I noticed a 1-2 mm drop all thoughts of jerking the whole axle and taking it someplace to have the K-pin pressed out melted away.
As with most things in life and with our old trucks, good patience is rewarded in the end with success.

hamon: We've been waiting for this question!!!

Here it goes. Get the frame solid against something. Get a torch and start heating the spindle when you think you are hot enough warm it some more!! I took a brass rod that was just smaller than the king pin put it in my pipe wrench. There is a reason for this because you are going to set the punch on top of your king pin and smack it with a sledge. If you miss YOU DO NOT HIT YOUR HAND, drive out the bottom.

Now before you get started have you got the dust caps off top and bottom? If not here you go; take a small drill bit and drill a hole in the cap so can you put a punch in the hole and pry the cap off. Guarentee king pins won't come out until you do.

Steel toe shoes are recommended, strong verbal languge advised, and no children or pets allowed in the area when you try this. popcorn The Truth is Out There (Its fun and just use patience, lots of it)

Your most times going to have to heat the axle up . It really does not matter which way you knock them out . If you had a hard time with the locks ,good luck with the pins . Lots of heat and a BFH. Should be tight in the axle not the spindle so dont heat or hit the spindle .

I put PB and Liquid wrench (blue can) to a show down on my backing plate mounting bolts and bumper brackets. LW on one side and PB on the other. They both seemed to work about the same. Problem is I went to the store to buy some more LW and they only carry the new formula in the yellow can now. What do you guys prefer?

Thanks a lot for the King pin removal tips.

This is more of a driveline question so I'm going to move the topic over there. Post any replies there too.