The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk King Pain II

Hey guys,
Remmeber the hard time I had removing the king pins from my 53 3/4 ton. Well reinstalling them isn't mich more fun.

I was able to press the bushings in with my vise and a piece of brass pipe. But I am not sure if I should push the pins in. The shop manual says you need to ream out the bushings once they are installed in the knuckle so that the pin will fit. Is that still true with todays parts? If so where do I get a reamer??

Thanks
Rich

Rich, if you have installed the new bushing, then the hole must be reamed out to the proper size, so that theres no binding. I always have mine done at the local truck repair place, as they have the correct reamers for the job. I wouldnt advise you to just press the pins in with being for certian that the holes have the right anmount of clearance. Hate to see you have to start all over again. I dont know where to buy a reamer, maybe some shop or the place where you got your pins could help you with that.

Rich,

Welcome back..sorry it's on a sour note. Your post is interesting to me because I thought I knew how this was suppose to work. I was even allowed to put a few side notes on the Tech Tip page regarding king pins.

If you have read the Tech Tip on this, it mentions that everything up to 1 1/2 ton is the "push in" floating type.

I thought other folks who had done the smaller trucks, such as yours, have indicated the bushing pushes into the spindle with moderate palm pressure, and the pin, also installs into these bushings with a hand push fit...everything floats.

I wonder why yours is different? If you have pressed the bushings in, and they are tight, so be it..it's OK. This is how many rigs work.

The proper next step would be to take the spindles to a automotive machine shop where they will "fit" the pins to the bushings for a nice sliding fit. This whole scenario is how you would address it on a big rig anyway..maybe you ended up with a king pin set from a larger truck..I don't know if they would interchange.

All is still good in king pin land, it's just a different song to dance to.

Stuart

A machine shop can ream them out. Take the pins & spindles to them. They generally use a piston pin hone. Make shure the grease hole is linned up.

Thanks guys,

In the book it says the bushings should be reamed to fit. Unfortunatley I didn't read the book until Saturday. (bummer) Anyway I will take these to a local spring shop that does king pins. In the mean time I will putter with other things.

atomarc,
I was unable to post for a while. My wife was very sick so I was busy tending to her. She is fine now and almost ready to go back to work (thank goodness...I was tired of her finding things for me to do while she was recovering)

I am assembling my rear brakes tonight. Man those new springs are tight!

Rich

If you spin the bushings and the grease hole moves, just drill a new hole. It'll hold more grease.

The "1/2 ton" is the ONLY truck that has the "floating" push in bushings that do not require "outside help". Your 3/4 ton has bushings that press into the knuckle and then reamed to fit the king pin. This link is to your particular front end, but I think it is typical for the 1947-1954 A.D. trucks.
http://chevy.tocmp.com/chevyresto/53130.htm
By the way, this is restoration pack series and it is the only place I have found this information. I was unable to find it in the Service Manuals. P.S. Take that axle to a competent machine shop to have that bushing reamed to fit the king pin IMHO

49_chevy_truck
Thanks for the info! I have a 51 1/2 ton and I am also doing my king pins. They came out like a greased pig! I sure hope they go back in like one...waiting for their arrival from Chevs. of the 40's.

I had my bushings done at Duff Spring in Medford. The pins went in nicely. I wll be putting th rest of the front end together this weekend (I hope...It si snowing like crazy right now)

Thanks again guys for all the advice!

If the tech tip says that everything up to 1 1/2 Ton has floating kingpin bushings, then it needs to be corrected.

After reaming, the kingpin should slide in without force but without play. The light press fit should be referring to the fit in the axle.