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.
My 58 has thrust washers as well. Did the 57 have thrust bearings stock? I didn't think so.
I would probably not redo the second axle, but if you can use the thrust bearings, they are very nice. The thrust washers will work just fine as well though.
What is your use case? If this is going to be a daily driver that you are going to put a ton of miles on, it is probably worth the effort to use the thrust bearings.
Just for added info, the big bolts use two steel washers with the bronze washer in the middle, shims are selected to keep the tolerance to a minimum. As long as you keep it greased, I don't see an issue with the washer type. My truck is rated at 16,000 lbs. with a 4400 lb. front axle rating. I was very pleased with results of new pins, bushings, thrust washers.
1957 Chevrolet 5700 LCF 283 SM420 2 speed rear, 1955 IH 300U T/A, 1978 Corvette 350 auto, 1978 Yamaha DT175, 1999 Harley Davidson Softail Fat Boy
Using bearings instead of thrust washers at the spindle was known as "poor man's power steering". It was also a popular upgrade to the idler arm on the right side frame rail on 55-57 Chevy cars, instead of the rubber bushings the factory installed. Jerry
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The axle was label '57 GMC. But I really don't know if that was correct. The guy that I picked it up from is a Tri-five car guy but he also has several '57 panel trucks that he uses as parts haulers. My use case is that it will not be a pampered show truck. It will be a weekly driver around town...dump runs, parts hauler, garden center, lumber yard, etc.
Looking at the shop manual, it looks like the 57 should have had thrust washers originally (which agrees with Jerry's comment above).
It sounds like your use case is pretty similar to my 58. I redid my front end with stock style thrust washers and have been quite pleased with it.
Given that you don't 100% know what the new spindles came off, I would recommend you take some careful measurements and make sure it will work properly with the axle you already prepped.
I've seen nails used instead of cotter pins, but I've never seen a cotter pin replacement like the one in your picture! your picture.
'57 GMC 102, Original 347 V8, HydraMatic, 3.08 rear gear, added A/C, disk front brakes, HEI, AFB carb, '98 Honda Black Currant paint. T-boned and totaled 10/12 '52 GMC 152 Stake Bed, Original 228, SM420, added A/C, HEI, disk front brakes, '67 Chev 3.55 rear gear. Gets used as a real truck.
I've cleaned up the axle that came with the spindles and sure enough, the forged part number according to the GMwiki parts page confirms that it is a '57 axle. See part number in the photo. The spindles for 55-57 (and a few other years) are the same part, so no issues there if I decide to mate them with the '55 axle with thrust washers. The '57 assembly was good and solid, meaning it pivoted well and it had no play. I'll ponder this some more and maybe get a standard king pin kit (with thrust bearings) and use the entire assembly.
