The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Kingpins won’t take grease

I’m having trouble getting the kingpins on my 1952 Chevy 3100 to take grease. I’ve been religiously greasing them every 1000 miles for the past 20 years. I’m pretty sure they aren’t overly worn because I had the front end aligned last fall when I got new tires. I trust the guy who did it and he wouldn’t have done the alignment if there was much play in them. Last year when I couldn’t grease them i took it to my mechanic and he used his 20 volt Milwaukee grease gun which he swears by. So, of course I had to get one too. Fast forward to this summer and, using my new grease gun, I STILL couldn’t get grease into either king pin, top or bottom. I took it back to him and he said he had no problem greasing them once he heated them up. That was about two weeks ago. Yesterday I tried again with both my new Milwaukee gun and my Lincoln air-powered grease gun with no luck.
What needs to be done so I can grease them myself?

Have you tried to remove the grease zerks and checking them out?

I also would remove the zerks and try pushing grease through them first, I doubt that the king pins or the bushings are the problem, and since you grease it that often I doubt that the grease is hardened.

Or if you have a zerk "rejuvenator" You could try that, too. Mine is a Lincoln. But zerks are cheap ...

Another thing, if new zerks or the rejuvenator doesn't help ... put your jack under the front axle and jack it up until the weight is off the front axle. Have a helper slowly turn the steering wheel side to side and back again (over and over and over) while you try to apply the grease gun to the king pin bushings.

Oh ... and be sure to safely support the vehicle with wood blocks, jack stands, etc while you are working under it.

Hope you get it sorted.

John

On a king pin job I once overlooked lining up the bushing's grease hole with the hole in the knuckle. wouldn't take grease. Rather than knock out the bushing I re drilled the hole using the knuckle as a guide. On rigs that haven't been greased in forever the bushings can twist out of line with the grease hole. Unlikely on a rig that has been regularly greased but I suppose it could happen. You might stick a cotter pin or wire in the hole to see if it goes in far enough. If not maybe the bushing has twisted.

I'm not saying it will fix your problem, but I bought a LockNLube coupler a few years ago. Expensive, but it works.

I asked my friend at O'Reilly's and he said if you can re-use the ones in your truck do it! Clean them well...soak them in gasoline for a week...whatever it takes but don't discard any zerk made in the USA. He said if you no longer have the original ones find a wrecking yard and buy as many as you need there.

So I started looking around. If you want new ones buy them from McMaster Carr. I checked and they have zinc-plated, brass or stainless steel. Some are made in the USA and some are made in Germany. However the 90 degree ones are made in Colombia. Just watch to be certain if you want USA made ones. You can find out the country of origin by clicking on "product details."

I've had great success cleaning stopped up zerks in carburetor cleaner. They don't really go bad, they just get dirt stuck in them.

I'm having the same issue. I searched the net and found a trade show video on this https://locknlube.com/collections/g...ts/grease-buster?variant=32921003327572. It seemed to work well during their demonstration, so I pulled the trigger and ordered one. Received it last week. Haven't had a chance to use it yet. Will let y'all know when I do and how it works.

Everytime I have ever removed kingpins, the grease is so hard that is a wonder that I could ever get grease in them at all.
KIngpins are not sealed in any real way whatsoever. That is why the Operator's Manual indicates that they need to be greased every 1,000 miles. Greasing them that often will force out the grease that is already in there, eliminating a lot of the road filth from accumulating and ruining the grease.
If you are not able to get grease in there, I recommend that you remove the kingpin and bushings and clean the thoroughly and inspect for excessive wear and reinstall. I'll bet they will take grease after that.

Propane, or better yet- - - -acetylene is your friend where stubborn grease fittings are concerned. Wear a face shield, gloves, and long sleeves while you heat the part being lubed- - - -not the grease fitting itself. Hot grease can squirt a long way once it liquefies.
Jerry

I would be prepared to replace the kingpins and bushings. I went through this last fall on my 58. They were nice and tight, but I couldn't get new lube in. I removed the zerks, cleaned them up, and squeezed new grease in.

About 10 cycles of the steering later (on blocks, not even driving) the kingpins had loosened enough that there was about 3/16" of play at the rim of the wheels.

When I pulled them out, the old hardened grease had been the only thing keeping them tight.

I made the mistake of greasing the king pins on a Model A I owned years ago. Instant death wobble ensued on the next drive.

Can confirm!

If I remove the kingpins to clean them, is there a trick to removing those metal covers without destroying them?

Nope- - - -just replace them. They're simple small diameter freeze plugs, or they can be fabricated from flat sheet metal in a few minutes. Getting the king pins out without a dedicated press may be a challenge, though.
Jerry

Don’t forget the tapered pin with a nut on that holds the king pin in place. Only removed one way, do not mushroom the threads driving the pin out.

Ed

I have had success removing the tapered pin by backing the nut off about one turn then tapping the nut with a hammer. Back it out an additional turn and tap again. If you back it out too much on the first shot, you’ll bend/distort the thread. I know from destroying my first set!

I removed all four grease fittings and soaked them overnight in brake cleaner. After verifying I could get grease through them, I reinstalled them. Sadly, it made no difference - none of them took grease. After reading all your suggestions I’m going to have my mechanic remove the kingpins. Is there any way to tell if my current ones are oversized before he removes them?

You need to measure them and I don’t see anyway to accomplish that until they’re removed.

They need to be measured with a micrometer that reads in thousands of an inch!

Ed