The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline King pin end plugs- What's the trick to getting them back in?

Just finishing up on the king pins on my '51 3100, and it's time to put the end plugs in, and after trying one time, I thought I'd better get on here and ask this question before I ruin my new plugs. I popped it one time with my ball peen and it just bounced off. I figure if I don't get it right the first time, I'll have flattened or wrinkled caps that will never go in. I had my king pins in the freezer, and the first one slid right in (hoping the second one goes that well). I decided to put the plugs in the freezer too, hoping they'll contract a little and go in easier.

I'm wondering how, if the plugs are the correct tight fit, which they are, how can you knock them into the groove without damaging the ridge of the groove that keeps them in? I'm out there right now doing this, but I'm going to jump over to the driver's side and get that king pin and bearing in while I wait on one of you guys with experience in these plugs to get on and tell me how you got yours in. Is there a trick to it? Or do you just pound the boogers until they seat? Don't know, but I don't want to have to wait for days for new one's to come in if I mangle these. Thanks, and I'll be back in here soon to see what's appeared. Lee

The old ones were probably put in and then the edges peened over to hold them. You'll probably need to file/grind those peened spots a bit for the new plugs to fit in. They should go in to the bottom of the groove with a little hand pressure or maybe a tap or two around the edges. Then flatten them with the flat end of the ball peen hammer (not the round end). That should expand them to fit the groove tightly. Then peen a couple spots around the edges so they don't get forced out when you grease the bushings.

So the rims on the openings aren't factory, then? That makes sense, since the bottoms don't seem to look like they have any. Thanks, Kevin, I'll try that and let you know how it turns out.

I think the factory recesses have vertical sides (it's kind of hard to cut a recess that's larger at the bottom than the top, but GM went the easy way). You may be able to use a flat punch and hammer to push the deformed metal back out enough to get the plugs in.

I used a wafer wheel on a Dremel to carefully remove the punch marks so I could get the plugs out and again to clean them up, to get them back in. Once I was sure that they were seated, I expanded them with the hammer side of a ball peen (as klhanson stated), then used a center punch to peen over the edges in four spots.

Ok, got 'em in! Once Kevin told me that those aren't suppose to be on there I got out the dremel with a stone cylinder on it and took them off. Of course, the plugs I got from classic parts still seemed a bit over on size (I don't think the Taiwanese are big on quality control), so I started one edge and worked my way around the piece. They're not pretty, but they're in. I was wondering why the bottom plugs on both sides looked more like a flat slug in there, and now I know. Mine look that way too. So, the good news is, the pins are in, the backing plate is in, and after going to the hardware store for some bolts and a better 1/2" - 20 chase, I was able to get the old boogered bolts cleaned up and in. Had to use 1 new castle nut, since I mangled one getting the last long bolt out of one side. But they're on.

One more question, if anybody's still listening. Is there a bolt torque list anywhere for these trucks?? I've looked through my shop manual and factory manual and can't seem to find any for the 4 bolts from the knuckle to the brake plate. Pretty sure there's a page around the king pin/front end stuff about the castle bolts as far as tightening them up and backing them off to catch the next cotter pin hole. But I'm not finding anything on the upper short bolts or the locking pin nuts anywhere. I was thinking of putting Loctite on them and just cranking them down, but if there's a torque spec for them, I'd like to go with that. Thanks again, guys. All that's left is putting new brake pads on and I'm done with this until I get a front end alignment. I was going to rebuild the tie rod ends and drag link joints, but I've got a list a mile long of other stuff. My 3500 needs hinge pins, my wife's Lacrosse needs the tranny filter and oil changed, my daughter's rear brake pads need changed, and I need a break!

Any other thoughts on what I need to make sure that the alignment guys need to check on? I was reading up on camber and caster because, who knows when the last time that was checked, but I couldn't find a detailed 'how to' that I could follow to do it. It pretty much freaks the shop mechanics out when I drive up in the truck to get something checked, since they don't have a clue about anything that isn't front wheel drive or over 10 years old. If there's anything I need to get them to do, let me know. And thanks again!

The specifications for alignment are in the Service Manual, page 3-16. Caster is set by shims between the axle and springs and shouldn't need adjusting. Camber and king pin inclination are only adjustable by bending the axle, which shouldn't be necessary. About the only thing that's easily adjustable is toe-in, and you could do that with a ruler in your driveway. But an alignment shop can check everything, even if they don't have the specs in their computer or alignment machine.

Ok, thanks Kevin. That helps out a lot. I may try to adjust the toe in, then take it to a shop just to double check. As tight as those pins were in there, and the bushings came out looking ok, I'm starting to wonder if the worn outer edges were actually caused by the king pins. I've never changed out king pins before, so I wouldn't know a bad one from a new one unless something was really obvious, but my front tires were bald halfway in from the out side, so something is definitely out here. It was a learning experience, anyway. And one I won't ever have to do again.

Camber should not be necessary?

There are many old trucks that look like this:

Ouch! Mine don't look like that, thankfully. I planned on using a level (to plumb) to see how they look just to make sure. The thing that left me wondering about the shop manual is the lack of real 'how to' information on toe in, caster and camber. It does tell about using shims on the axle for camber, but I've had to go to youtube (and here) to get enough information on doing any of them. I know one member on this forum mentioned something about having to bend the axle to correct something, and after reading in the king pin change out (and seeing it on a couple of youtube videos) that heating the axle or knuckle was absolutely out. I don't want to screw everything up by trying to fix things over my ability range. But thanks for that pic. Looks like some of the kids I've seen driving little cars they've lowered, riding on the inside corners of their tires. They look like the car will cave in at any second.

Most GM trucks like this have a slight amount of positive camber, which can be restored by bending the axle, not a backyard activity, check king pins, etc., first. May also be due to spirited driving.

Using wider than original front wheels/tires can aggravate sagging front axle plus making the steering harder when moving the center point of the wheel [censored]’y outboard.

Ed