The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop King pin removal, good old fashioned fun

Ok I I finaly removed my king pin locks. That was fun let me tell ya! So now its the king pins turn. Do i need to drive them down or drive them up? Or does it matter?
Ive been soaking them down with liquid wrench. Any body have any handy tips on how to get them out?

Go to Tech Tips and read KOOLKAR'S King Pin removal, great tip, here's how I did it...
My last major project was 'encouraging out' the old king pins. Koolkar suggested using the weight of the vehicle and a generous soaking w/ PB Blaster to achieve success. In my case it worked like a charm.
The truck is lifted and properly supported while you remove the backing plate and coat-hanger it off to the side. I then created a stable vertical support for my brass drift by drilling a common hole into a stack of 10"X10", 2X12 board scraps then securing the stack together with 3 " wood screws. This created a stable vertical support for my 6" brass drift. Upon removal of the king pin end caps I then lowered the king pin onto my home-made brass drift assembly.
The goal is just to get the stubborn king pin started so only 1-2" of drop is allowed before 2 jack stands await the front I beam for safety. I would come around and give a dozen good blows to the outside of the vertical king pin assembly with a five lb. sledge and a squirt of PB then go back to listening to Public Broadcasting Saturday AM and then come back after another half hour or so. Once I noticed a 1-2 mm drop all thoughts of jerking the whole axle and taking it someplace to have the K-pin pressed out melted away.
As with most things in life and with our old trucks, good patience is rewarded in the end with success.

hamon: We've been waiting for this question!!!

Here it goes. Get the frame solid against something. Get a torch and start heating the spindle when you think you are hot enough warm it some more!! I took a brass rod that was just smaller than the king pin put it in my pipe wrench. There is a reason for this because you are going to set the punch on top of your king pin and smack it with a sledge. If you miss YOU DO NOT HIT YOUR HAND, drive out the bottom.

Now before you get started have you got the dust caps off top and bottom? If not here you go; take a small drill bit and drill a hole in the cap so can you put a punch in the hole and pry the cap off. Guarentee king pins won't come out until you do.

Steel toe shoes are recommended, strong verbal languge advised, and no children or pets allowed in the area when you try this. popcorn The Truth is Out There (Its fun and just use patience, lots of it)

Your most times going to have to heat the axle up . It really does not matter which way you knock them out . If you had a hard time with the locks ,good luck with the pins . Lots of heat and a BFH. Should be tight in the axle not the spindle so dont heat or hit the spindle .

I put PB and Liquid wrench (blue can) to a show down on my backing plate mounting bolts and bumper brackets. LW on one side and PB on the other. They both seemed to work about the same. Problem is I went to the store to buy some more LW and they only carry the new formula in the yellow can now. What do you guys prefer?

Thanks a lot for the King pin removal tips.

This is more of a driveline question so I'm going to move the topic over there. Post any replies there too.

Plenty of liquid assist ,, for the kingpin , and yerself .. GREAT BIG HAMMER ...
It says quite clearly in the shop manual , apply NO heat to the front axle.

for what its worth, heat/hammer that didn't even work on my one ton.

what did work was pulling off the axle (not much to it) and then stuffing that into a 30 TON shop press, and then heatting the poo out of it with a torch until it was RED hot. Bent the angle irons on the shop press, but more heat, and finally they came out. Goobs who put in last set of king pins spun the bushing and it never got greased after that! If they had looked, they could have just drilled another hole through the bushing and it wouldn't have been half as bad.

Then I put in the spiral bushing set with groved pins. Big improvement. Bushings twist in, no reaming, pins are grooved and hold more grease.

Spanky put me on to it.

I screwed up trying to press the bearings out of the spindle with a press. I didn't think to put something between the bushing holes and I bent a spindle. Cut a pipe with an i.d. a little larger than the bearing that will fit between there and maybe you won't be so unlucky.

I did mine the easy way. I took my new king pins and axel in hand went to the Hot Rod shop and for $140 he installed the new king pins. I picked them up the next day and put it back in.

Well I have been dosing them the past three days with lube. Ill see if it helps im going to keep lubing them until saturday.
They aren't this hard to put back in are they?

pay a shop it is well worth it

Easy to put back in. Did you read Koolkar's tech tip? Don't be giving some shop your hard earned money when all it takes is a little patience.

I did exactly what Koolkar said, one came out real hard, took about two hours of banging on the side with a 5 lb. sledge hammer. You are using the weight of the truck...see my post. Just give it some time and save your money, you'll be glad you did.

I was quoted 280 bucks to do the job by a front end shop...drive in - drive out. I get to say "I did it myself", you will too. Hang in there, it isn't your daily driver, mine is! Regards, Cosmo.

Rat and Warren are correct. I took my front axle to a local truck machine shop (see pic) and for I think $60 he removed my stubborn old kingpins plus a couple steering arm balls. I installed the new kingpins myself. No heat used.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/96669114/97656855QzepXi

I don't have the weight of a truck. Right now its a frame only. I think I can get them out. I love a good challenge, or is it pain? Ill let everyone know how it goes on Saturday. Or if I have to surprise my brother in law in Gilroy who used to be a mechanic and has a garage full of old tools and gadgets. Id rather not pay some one it just feels soooo much better that way. I think Cosmo knows what I mean. Independence is freedom!

I used a 20 ton press and a bit of heat on the last set I did - one took everything the press had and when it decided to let go, the entire press, axle, all the hammers and penetrant and whatever else was sitting on the press jumped into the air and clattered to the floor. Surprised the bejeebers out of me.

Took less than 20 minutes to press pins on both sides. Spindles went in the blast cabinet - by the end of the afternoon everything was painted, new bushings installed and ready to bolt back in place under the truck.

Give it a shot Hamon. Be patient. And if you can't get anywhere with it, then just take the axle off and run it over to a shop.

Btw, one thing I did was get a turd socket from a pawn shop for $1 that was the right size for my king pins and welded a strap on it to secure it, and then beat the poo out of that before I went to the press. It really worked well and I was swingin a 16lb sledge with no action.



Yours might not be so bad...

Here's why mine were just awful...

Click me to see spun reamed bushing!

Hamon,
Morgan Hill? With the current heat streak going on here you should be able to just let the axle sit out in the sun soaking up all that hot garlic air that's just south of you and the pins might just slip right out.

Hey wasn't there a chevy truck parts salvager in Gilroy not too long ago? Is he gone?

Craig/Menlo Park

I'm not sure if there is a truck salvage in Gilroy CMAYNA. I haven't found it. But I just got into Chevy trucks about 6 Months ago when some one gave me my 55 2nd series. Maybe the Weather and the Garlic is why the spindles turn now with the use of My pinky finger. Last weekend it took both hands and on my knees to turn it!
Or Maybe its the Mushroom farms in Morgan Hill. Nothing like the sweet smell of a Mushroom Farm.
Some super weather were having!
No one has indicated weather or not I can pound them out from the top of the Axel down?
Good slide show Irwin!

Im sorry Popcorn answered my question.

OK, I will repeat my story here! I supported the axle with a screw jack on the side that I was working on, and pounded them down and out with a sledge hammer. I started using a deep hex nut as a drift but it was pretty soft. The road to success was to use a wristpin, but it is very hard so be sure and use eye protection. It took hours of pounding before it actually moved.