The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Bendix brakes on an earlier axle

I have a deal in place for a front axle and various front end parts. Hope to pick up on the next day or so.

I have a 1951 truck (brakes and bearings done, on the road). This new one is allegedly a 1950 axle. I am going to evaluate and use the best combination of parts when putting things back together.

What’s currently on my truck are spindles that are usable (although not pristine). I know they need king pins and I have new king pins.

If the spindles on this other axle are better, I will use them and swap things over.

Is that process really just as simple as described in the tech tip?
https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/adbrakes.htm

I know that drill bits tend to not drill very round holes. Is there a need for this job to be done with more precision? Perhaps with a reamer rather than a drill bit?

Sometimes the king pins are so rusted in place a 30 ton press won’t move them.
The service manual says to knock the king pin out with a copper drift, lol and I tried a 10 lb sledge hammer and the shop press and couldn’t move them
And that was with the axle off the truck in the vise where I could swing it easy and clear of any obstructions.
So I swapped the whole axle for a better one because I have a farm full of these trucks.
Good luck
-s

Well, that thought crossed my mind as well. If I got lucky and this other axle didnt have king pin play, I would skip the whole exercise of replacing them.

I doubt I’m that lucky.

Got the axle dragged home last night.

Back to the original question. What would be the best way to drill the spindles? Just a good bit and a big drill? Or would I need some sort of reamer?

If you have the spindles removed, use a drill press to do the hole enlarging. One trick I use routinely is to grind the tip of a drill bit I use to enlarge a hole down until it's a slip fit in the smaller diameter and let the tip of the bit center in the smaller hole. Reducing the diameter of about the first 1/2" of the bit is plenty. It doesn't need to be a perfect fit- - - -just enough to keep the bit from hanging up and/or wandering as it starts to cut. You can resharpen the full diameter cutting edge with a Dremel tool.
Jerry

I’m not sure yet if I’m removing spindles or not. Trying to evaluate what I have here vs what’s on the truck. I do have access to a very large right angle drill Milwaukee my Dad owns.

I would not try drilling the spindles on the truck. Even though it is a pain to get the king pin dust caps back on, good spindles are getting too hard to find to risk buggering one up while laying on your back trying to drill in the correct orientation.

If you have access to a Bridgeport or other mill then you have no problem. End mills do not "walk"no matter if cutting s full circle or any fraction there of.

I don’t have a drill bit large enough for this task. I don’t have a lathe, but I think I could still make a pilot as Jerry suggested earlier with a drill press and some sort of abrasive or perhaps a file to turn down the end. Or I might even see about using a step bit to cut a little chamfer and get things started true.

Dumb question:

I gather that I’m drilling a hole for a 1/2 bolt. How much oversize (if at all) does the bit need to be?

Most "clearance" drills are either 1/64" or 1/32" larger that the diameter of the bolt that's going to be used. For instance, a 33/64" or a 17/32" drill would be used to make a clearance hole for a 1/2" bolt.

https://amesweb.info/screws/Clearance-Hole-Chart.aspx

Jerry