First timer with a straight axle…37 shop manual says to just hammer it out after removing the dust cap with “a brass rod” and it pushes the bottom dust cap off as the king pin comes out. Just don’t want to damage anything that is to be reused. I have a bigger hammer. Tips!? Secondly, there is mention of “floating bronze bushings” for the master that are pre sized but truck and pickup must be reamed to fit. Is this still true or are “presized” bushings available in today’s world? Lacking the tool shown to ream top and bottom together, I’d have to take the axle out and to town. Suggestions? Second pic shows my unusual (to me) front leaf springs. All information I have shows the 37 having flat eight leafs in the front. These are nine with small ones on each end. I know I also have upper helper springs in the rear so this must’ve been a heavy duty half ton option before the three-quarter ton came out.
Larry Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY. If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
If you removed the locking pin, rust molecules could still be holding hands where the king pin goes thru the axle. I used an old king pin ground down for clearance as a drift to drive the second one out that was being stubborn. Be sure the axle is supported solidly and use the biggest hammer you have. Rust penetrant would also be a good idea. Maybe soak it for a day or so.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
King pins are a harden steel, careful using one as a drive, shards can and will splinter off and go flying. It's best to use a full length reamer, but if you take your time can probably hone them to size one at a time and still get a decent out come. One of mine ( 1/2 ton ) about fell out, the other took a lot of heat and a big hammer. Going back together, was easy after a good cleaning. Mine just needed a touch up with some 600 grit paper rolled around a wooden dowel in a drill motor. They are still tight 15 years later.
I also used a ball joint press on the one of mine, but the stem on it was just a LITTLE too big to push it through.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
You would not have to remove the axle to have a machine shop fit there bushings. Just take the spindles to the shop with the king pin set. The latter models had floating bushings that did not require reaming but I don't believe the 37 did. Occasionally the new pin will be loose in the axle. O-size pin sets are supplied for this problem. If that is the case you will have to pull the axle to get it reamed to the o-size.
George
Last edited by Wrenchbender Ret.; 12/15/202411:27 PM.
They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne Super In the Gallery Forum
Reaming is good- - - -honing is better. Find a machine shop with the right size and length of mandrel for a Sunnen hone, and have them fit the bushings to the new kingpins. Getting the old pins out of the axle is usually the hard part. I've used a home brewed press device and a 20 ton bottle jack to get them to move at times. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Apparently I am one of the lucky ones. My truck is a lifelong rust belt specimen and needed new king pin bushings. Being a 2 ton truck, the new pins/bushings had to be reamed. I didn't have any trouble removing the old pins, just tapped them out with a 3 lb. sledge. I took the knuckles and new pin/bushing kit to my local motor machine shop and they pressed in the new bushings and honed them to fit the new pins. I put it together with no problems and have zero detectable slop in the knuckle.
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
Be durn shure the hole in the new bushings line up with the grease zerk. I drilled my bushings out slightly larger to ensure that passage was open clear.
~~ Jethro 1954 3100 Back to Life In the Dity Gallery 1951 3100 (gone) / 1956 4400 (still in the neighborhood) / 1957 6400 with dump body (retired) / 1959 3100 panel (in the woods junked) / 1978 Custom Deluxe K10 / 1993 S-10 4.3 / 2004 Chevy Crew Cab / 1945 John Deere H / 1952 John Deere B / 1966 John Deere 2510 / 1967 John Deere 1020
I try to do as much on my ‘37 as I can for the fun of learning. However, after banging away on the kingpins harder than I figured was good,I finally took the whole axle off and had a shop press new ones in.
