The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk '56 axle/spindle/king pin wear

I really want to keep the stock front axle on my 3100, but now I'm wondering if this might be beyond repair.
There is a large gap between the L/H spindle and axle. The manual says the gap should be .005 and talks about installing shims to get that (but not to any detail).
This slideshow shows my axle and the wear on the L/H side is much worse than the R/H side. The truck is on jack stands for these pictures so the axle is just hanging. Off of the jack stands the gap is the same, just on the top of the axle, not the bottom.
I don't mind replacing the axle if it is what is worn, what concerns me is that if the spindle is what is worn, can new spindles be purchased? I've looked and looked, but must be looking in the wrong places if they are available. Thanks, Ed

It looks like your thrust brg. is gone. Probably a basic kingpin replacement job will take care of it. The king pin set comes with new thrust brgs. & shims to take up any slack.

Ed,

New spindles (knuckles) are not easy to find. (If I am wrong about this, and I hope that I am, maybe someone will post the name for a source).

Maybe the thrust bearing is what is worn out? A new thrust bearing and a few shims are usually provided in a king-pin rebuild kit.

Tim

Ed,

I watched your slide show and it doesn't look bad to me. There is usually a thrust bearing on the bottom that carries the vehicle weight and allows for easier turning (bearings). This bearing is easily chewed up from years of use. The axle itself is usually bullet proof unless bent or broken. Even is the axle eyes are worn they can be machined oversize and oversize pins installed.

Have you read the Tech-tips dealing with this...look at the top of the page. If you tear the front end down you will get an idea of what needs to be done. The shots on the slide show look pretty darn good to me. I'll bet it will be a cake walk.

Don't buy a pin set until you rip yours apart and determine if you need standard or oversize pins. Shims are always included to allow you to get the clearances called out in your book.

Stuart

I appreciate the feedback, and yeah, I've read the Tech-tips (and about 20 other articles on this subject). I didn't realize a new thrust bearing came with the kit, shims were the only thing I would had expected. Nor did I think the thrust bearing if available would fill this gap.
Thanks for the quick feedback on this, with this new glob of knowledge to stick into my 63 year old brain, I might just jump on this project. Of course with no air conditioner this is the time of the year I drive the most. Summers in the low desert are unbearable without air, ideal times to sit in the semi-cool garage and work on king pins!
"Don't buy a pin set until you rip yours apart and determine if you need standard or oversize pins" will turn this into a multi weekend project but I can just sip on a cool one waiting for my king-pin set.
Thanks all!

I wouldn't get too joyous over this just yet. Sometimes those pins can be a bear to get out. You may have to pull the axle & have them pressed out. This will give your 63 year old body a workout. It may take a whole 6 pack.

Check with Sid in Oaklahoma...He is the guy who got me the dropped axle w/ spindles and bent steering arms for the drop.
www.droppedaxles.com

Bet he has what you need. And I agree that it looks like you are missing the thrust washer.

Steve in Idaho

Looks like your axle is a second series 1956-59. The 56-59 does not have a bearing between the lower axle boss and spindle. They have a thrust washer. There are two parts to some of the king pin thrust washers looks like one part is missing. I think if you replace the king pins you will be ok. The king pin set comes with new thrust washers. Just make sure the new king pins are tight in the axle and have no movement.

We are restoring our 52 so the axel was removed. I took the whole axel to our local machine shop/NAPA. They removed the kingpins & bushings, cleaned/polished the spindle, re-bushed it, and ordered the kingpin set. All in about a week. I think it was 90 bucks for king pin set & 30 for the labor (remove the pins/bushings and re-bush)

My axle was so wore I had to either get new bushings and get the axle drilled out. The machine shop suggested I look for another axle, it was quite far gone. I found one the same day for $40.- that was in very good shape. I had no trouble finding one good used spindle either.