The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop King pin dust caps installation questiion

The beautiful tech tip did not mention my type of dust cap. My 55.1 has dust caps with no retaining ring or retaining ring groove in the spindle. The kit I got does not have retaining rings either. Do I just hammer the dust caps into the holes for a press fit? Do I put some grease in on the ends of the king pins before I hammer the dust caps in? Thanks - Scott

Scott: Yes it would not hurt for a little grease. What I did was find a extended socket for a exact fit then hammer on the extended socket thus driving the cap into place.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Worked good for me) Ben

Thanks, that would prevent pounding the humped center down flat. I assumed the hump goes up and that should keep it up. Great thanks - scott

They're a real pain in the a** to get seated properly... Popcorn's right placing a socket over it let's you hammer it down allowing equal pressure all around. You'll know if you got it on right when you grease the king pin. If it's not on tight the pressure from the grease will pop it off. And yes, hump goes up (we're talking dust cap here right?)

I like to give that dome a little dimple to wedge it against the side. Has anybody mentioned to stake it good to keep it from falling out after it has been on the road a few miles?

What does "stake it good" mean?

I am not sure how best to describe "staking", but it involves making an indentation that crosses the dust cap and the knuckle surface. What this does is "swell" the two areas together. If you look at this area on your axle, you may see past evidence of this procedure. If you do not file/grind these little bumps, it will make putting the dust caps harder to put back on. I hope this explanation was clear. Someone on this board WILL correct me, so stay tuned.

Staking is the process which you force a corner of one metal over another. Usually you can take a punch and knock down a piece of the outside metal ontop of the inside metal. We use to stake a nut to the bolt thread w/punch. This is before loc-tite or lock nuts.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (49 not trying to correct you just trying to make it simple. Ok I know clear as mud. LOL ) Ben

I believe staking in this case does refer to burring or making several slight notches in the top and bottom of the spindle bore to prevent the cap from coming off. I think that it is illustrated in one of the manuals.

Don't apologize popcorn! I am just glad people on this board have the vocabulary to explain the correct usage of all these durn "mechanical" terms.

I'm glad I just came across this topic (yes, I used Search). I am in the midst of replacing my king pins. It looks like someone before me staked the crap out of the spindles. I worked on getting one of the dust caps off for a few days before success. I finally gave up on the others and took the whole assembly to a shop. I just got a call from the shop saying the spindles are shot and need to be replaced because he won't be able to get the retaining rings back in. It's a '50 3100. Is this correct? Does it have retaining rings or should he be staking them in? I didn't see any on the axle before I took it over there or in the kit I received.

Thanks.
RedGreen

Mine was a 55.1 and had no retaining rings, and it was not staked. They stuck in there just fine with a press fit. But that's a 55.

scott

Your 1950 3100 stock from the factory had no "retaining ring". He should "stake" them so the dust covers do not fall out.