The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Help Getting new King Pins back in - 1950 Chevy 3600 3/4-Ton

Heres my story, after a true test of faith I got the pin out,(30 tons of press). I order the correct size, not oversized for a 1950 3600. They were slightly under 1" inch. The bushings were already machined for a perfect fit, and shouldn't need reaming. However, when forcing them in spindles they tighten up and are nolonger perfect fit. I do not have a reamer so I purchased a brake hone. Two hours later it's perfect fit, and reasembled. Now the other side. After boring these bushings, the pin still what fit because spindle openings appear to be misaligned. Are my spindles bent. Now What do I do?

In 1950, the 3/4 ton truck had to have the bushings reamed to fit the kingpins. ONLY the 1/2 ton trucks had floating bushings that came pre-honed to fit the kingpins. You may have to buy anothe set of kingpins and bushings.

The point of the reamer, besides ensuring the correct size is to ensure alignment of the bushings. Each bushing may be honed perfectly, but if the bores are out of line even a little, the pin won't go in. Did you hone them on a drill press with a long hone, or with a hand drill? Sorry to say you may need to order new bushings and refit them.

Maybe others here have better ideas.

Good luck

Shellology,

Your half done! When you trial fit the pin on the stubborn side, are you doing it ONLY through the spindle bushings...like on the bench! If this is true, then the misalignment is ONLY in the spindle bushings and the axle eye has no bearing on the problem.

During the beastly press job, could one of the spindle 'ears' have been deformed, as this is what probably supported the entire setup. This would be my guess.

With the new bushings installed, you should be able to gently push the pin through either one, and watch as it starts to enter the other bushing. You will probably see it isn't centered 100%, which it needs to be.

If all this is true, I think new 'press in' bushings (undersize) will have to be installed in that side, and then line bored (honed) with some type of Sunnen hone to achieve the 100% 'perpendicularity' and the proper ID.

Stuart

Like Highflyer says the reamer lines them up. You can probably hone them a little more til you get the pin to go through. It won,t be the ideal situation & won,t last as long but should work.

I don't know who told you that the bushings on a 3600 spindle didn't have to be reamed but they were wrong. The ½ ton are full floating, are made to size and don’t have to be pressed in this may be what they were thinking of.
After they are pressed in, take the spindles to a auto machine shop and have them hone them to fit the king pins. You can’t ream each bushing separately, they must be line bored with a long hone, most decent shops will have one.
Believe me I went through three weeks of this a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to do it myself, spent hundreds of dollars on reamers and extension guides and never did get it right my self. You really do need a professional hone like a Sunnen. Cost me all of $20 to have both spindles done in the end. If the kingpins were working in the axle eye then you will need to ream the eye and fit an over sized king pin and bushing set.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks every one. It's comforting to know it's not the end of the world. Nobody felt that the spindle was damaged and most likely just rookie error. I dont know how I got confused on not needing a good reaming, otherwise I would have had it done. I just finished honeing out the bushing untill the pin would go through. There's not much bushing meat remaining but after reaseambled it's better than it was. I think it will work for a short while. Does anybody know where I could find new bushing without purchasing a entire kit........Thanks

I may be wrong, but it would be a bad idea to re-use the king pins if you use them in marginal bushings for anything other than moving the truck around your shop. If the pins get worn, they will do in the new bushings and you are back where you started. Find the new bushings now. If unavailable, bite the bullet and get a full new set and change them properly.

Hate to rain on your parade, but how much is the agravation worth later?

Point well taken. I have been looking for replacement bushings. After devoting lots of time and only finding something that might work. I would still need lock pins, shims, maybe bearings, and greese caps. If my attempted King pin replacement fails it will be cheaper in the long run to buy a new kit again. Then have it reamed for precision alignment and size.

It is slow and difficult, but Im learning.