The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Kingpin Thrust Bearings

Mentors - I recently purchased a kingpin replacement kit for my 51 AD from one of the major classic truck parts suppliers. Inspecting the "new" king pin thrust bearings, the single row ball bearings enclosed in a dust shield, I found them hard to turn/spin ... a gritty feel almost like they had serious dirt in them.... can this be normal for this type of bearing or should I return. Other parts seem fine but now I'm not sure about the bearings - Bug

Those bearings should turn freely. I'd check with the company they came from to see if they've had problems and to see about replacement.

BugDuckley,

If you look at a cutaway of that bearing, you will see it is a semi-typical thrust bearing with massive upper and lower races to handle the tough chore it was designed to do.

Although it certainly isn't a high speed precision bearing, I will bet its first rate.

My guess is that the formed steel dust shield is
rubbing slightly on one of the race OD's.

Finding that piece as a separate item could be a chore. Personally, I would run it, but as my dear old dad often said, "take my advice and suit yourself".

Good luck.

Stuart

what size truck?? and how thick is the bearing..?? some are really nothing but thrust washers, not a bearing>?

Thanks for the ideas; the truck is a 1/2 ton and this is definately the ball bearing design not the washer design. I'll call the supplier and see what they think about it. Thanks for all the help! Bug

I could be just the assembly grease is dried up from years of being on the shelf. Put the bearings in so solvent and then work them back and forth, see if they free up. If they do then clean then up and force some graese back in them and you are good to go.

OK, I'll give it a try. Thanks for the tip.

Fatweed - My tombstone will say "If you can read this you're standing on my head."

I just replaced my kingpins and bearings. I also bought an extra kingpin kit (for the next time as I plan to keep this truck). I have a 1949 3100 truck. The bearings in both the kits when rotated slowly had a "metallic" sound, but were coated with light oil not grease. These bearings did spin very well. When packed with grease they would "turn" but not "spin". I can't give you any advice as I bought my kingpin kits locally. If they wouldn't free up after a liberal dose of WD-40, I would have taken them back.

49 - Thanks for the tips, I'll see if I can free them up as suggested. Who did you buy your kits from locally? I'm thinking NAPA might have something like this? Bug

I got mine through Autozone. (They were RARE PARTS kits) NAPA did have them, but they were were more expensive. One thing you should ask about is the king pin diameter. Some of the places sold kinpins that were .861" in diameter versus .8660 - .8665" that was factory stock (or so they say).

Thanks for the leads on this, I decided to go ahead and get the NAPA set which I will compare with the first set, especially the quality of the thrust bearings. You dimensions on the ID of the pin sound correct, Ill check that too before I install. Thanks all for comment & help - Bug