The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Wheel Play

When I took the Blue Funk into attempt to have its wheels aligned, the fellow showed me that it had some wheel play.

It seemed that he showed me that the vertical (top and bottom) movement of the wheel indicated worm kingpins. The horizontal (side to side) movement indicated steering mechanism wear.

Does my memory serve me right? If so, how can I tell which part of the steering mechanism (arm, drag link, tie rod) is in need of replacement?

Thanks.

Your memory is good, but tighten up your wheel bearing play and try the up and down motion again. Your wheel alignment guy could've mistaken loose wheel bearings for bad kingpins. Could be a simple bearing adjustment.

To check the side to side play, I would first roll down the drivers window, stand outside the truck, and gently move the steering wheel back and forth until resistance is felt, meanwhile look at the tire on the drivers side, it will be moving back and forth slightly as well. Two or three inches of free play in the steering wheel is normal for these beasts but if you have much more than that you'll need to investigate further. Have someone else do the steering wheel movement while you look under the truck with a good light, you should see all the steering parts moving in unison. My guess is that most of the play is in the steering box and can be adjusted out following the procedure in the shop manual.

Agreed, probably the steering box. A worst case would be the need for a rebuild. If you have a helper to work the steering wheel while you're on your back under the truck you can watch each joint at the drag link & tie rod to see if there is play there. While your up & down could be the bearings I'd be surprised if you didn't have some play in the king pins.

Thanks, waldo53, Tiny.

Yeah- I'm as sure as I can be the kinpins need replacing. I cleaned up, packed, and tightened the spindle nuts down to specs before I took the Blue Funk in to attempt to have the wheels aligned.

Fact is, I have just about everything apart and I can rattle the spindle up and down just a bit. I guess I'm just looking for reinforcement in the area of kinpins, this being my first experience with them and all.

Now, regarding the steering- I'll go ahead and learn all I can about the workings and sdjusting of the steering box.

Since I have everything down for the kingpin replacement, is there any way that I can check the connections for play? Keep in mind that I don't know what they're SUPPOSE to feel like.

Thanks.

On my '41 3/4 ton, I took the steering box out and cleaned it and adjusted it to the specs in the shop manual and it was fine, it was a sloppy mess before. Didn't seem to have any significant wear that wasn't taken care of by the adjustment. The ball ends on the drag link and tie rod ends didn't seem to have much looseness in them, so I thought that they were fine. The truth was that the adjustment had been taken up over the years and three of the five balls had the shaft below the ball worn 2/3 of the way through. Scary!! So my advise is to check all the balls and if they are worn out of round etc, replace them. It is a bit of a tough job as the old ones have to be pressed out and the new ones pressed in and then help with a spot of weld. I would buy the new springs and caps that go around the balls also as the old ones are going to be worn to the shape of the worn balls. Remember it is your steering you are playing with here. Take the time and $ to do that right. Go thru the steering box. It wasn't a real hard thing to do. My king pins were not great either. I put in a .010 oversize set. Remember that to do this it is the axle eyes that have to be reamed .010 oversize, not the bushings, because at least in my case, that is where the wear was, in the axle eyes themselves. It was all worth the effort, the steering is now smooth and tight. I also had the axle straightened as mine had been in a rollover back in 1941 just before my great uncle bought it used in early 1942. For me, I want a stock truck with the chassis absolutly right, because I intend to drive it a lot and I want to know that everything under hannah is safe and solid. I'll put up with some small flaws in body and paint. Good luck.

Thanks, Ron Peterson, for the information and good advice!

I found out I need to rebuild my i-beam. Was told I need new king pins. Is there any vendor in the USA making the king pins and bushings? I am not going to buy China crap.

Thanks!

Jon

hey Jon, check NAPA, last time I needed some they had kingpin kits

Bill

Hi Bill,
Will do! Filling Station has them for $55 but are made in China...

Jon, here's how it tightened up the steering in my '36 Chevy pickup in the early 1970s and it's still tight today.

1. Steering box- Replaced bearings and bushings, machined sector shaft housing for an oil seal and filled with gear oil. Adjusted gear mesh. Still tight and no oil leak 35+ years later.
2. Tie rod ends-Replaced those clunky, obsolete ball and socket dinosauers with Moog ES-29R and ES-29L. They are a perfect fit in the taper of the steering arms and pitman arm and have the correct threads to be a direct replacement on the tie rod and drag link described below. It doesn't get any easier than that.
3. Drag link-Replaced original forging with a steel bar threaded for above mentioned tie rod ends.
4. King pins-Made 0.010" oversize kingpins from a car rear axle shaft. The axle is tough steel so a carbide cutting tool was required. Reamed axle to a moderate press fit and reamed spindle bushings for a correct fit.

This rebuild has stood the test of time, as the pickup is a driver not a trailer queen although it won Class T-2 (1929-36 commercial vehicles) at the 1976 VCCA National Meet in Colorado Springs after being driven there from Southern California.

Please feel free to email me at [email protected] if any more details of this would be helpful.

Spindles are used..couldn't find new. New drag link. Original tie-rods. I-beam...I am not sure what was done at the NAPA shop.
Looking at the receipt to see what was done.

I am starting to remove the i-beam to go take it to a shop. I just really don't want to remove the brake lines! fluid everywhere and will eat my paint!

jon

Is it possible to get the orginal style tie-rod ends for my 57?

the ends are available from most vendors, maybe even NAPA, the rod at some

Bill

Hi Bill,
So do I need to get the ball ends? Or can I get the whole housing that screws on to the arm?

if the balls are shot, best to replace the whole end with modern style, the rod itself only needs replacing if bent

Bill

UnklRod

I do not think you are referring to the Tie Rod (which is available from a few vendors).

The original-style tie rod ends may still be available from here. part number 25129 (there is a left-side and a right-side - call them to be sure to get what you want).

Those ends (that brand of ends) are sold on-and-off from a variety of vendors. NAPA used to sell them and I got them a year ago from O'Reilly's ( they still list them - 42-59 6&8 cylinder). I had to talk with them about a left and a right (they buy from specialty supplier and I received the correct parts).

Hi Tim and Bill,
OK! Great to see they are still made! I really want to keep the old original look. I hope to show the truck out here this summer.
I will check with O'Reilly. I am surprised they would stock something like this. Do you think they are made in the USA?

Thank you for the help!

Hi Tim,
The only thing I can see from the photo of the tie-rod ends from O-Reilly is they are threaded. My originals look pressed in. Sorry to be so dumb on this issue but is it possible to just replace the tie-rod ends balls?

Thank you!

Jon

Jon,

Sorry, is this what you are referring to?

Jon - see sect 9-3 in the shop manual .... your tie rod should have the ends threaded on and there will be a right and left hand thread as Tim mentioned above, that's how the toe-in alignment is made - they also have the bolted clamp to hold the position they're set at .... best to replace the whole end

Bill

Hey guys,
I will check this out when I get home.

Thank you Bill and Tim!

-Hi Bill,
Looking at the shop manual. Section 9-3 the photo FIG 5 looks like the one I have on my truck. Now is that ball screwed into the spindle?

Thanks!

Jon

Each ball is screwed into a steering knuckle arm attached to each each side's/wheel's knuckle/spindle. The steering third-arm is integral with the left-side (driver's side) steering knuckle arm.

Figure's 1 & 3 (and the written descriptions) might help?

Tim, that one includes the Fig 5 Jon refers to

yes Jon, note on Fig 5 on the left cutaway side of the clamp there's threads [inside the end assy], and on the right of the clamp the threads on the end of the rod are showing - the new ends include the ball

Bill

Yes, Bill, Jon's Fig 5 is a part the larger diagrams. The larger diagrams and the words in the manual almost make it clear (in answer to Jon's question)) that the ball&studs screw into the steering knuckle arms (and that there is a different style of arm attached to each side's spindle/knuckle).

ahh, sorry, I was still seeing the original question about the end being threaded on the tie rod because of the "screwed into", the ball ends are a bolt w/ nut that press fit in a hole in the knuckles

Bill

Bill,

In the original set-up were the balls/studs pressed-in or screwed-in (I think I am also mixed up - I have to redo a 54 1/2 front end soon and it has been over 8 years since I touched steering parts)? Also, the one I have to take apart has one new end and one old end. I'll be putting new original-style ends on.

Thanks,

pressed-in for the TF years I've pulled apart, or more like when the nut is tightened the machined shaft gets sucked in pretty tight, a pickle fork helps for disassembly - I think the original/modern difference is in the internal ball/socket setup

Bill