The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk king pin reaming specs? kinda urgent

rebuilding the front axle on my 54 3100 brake drum to brake drum.

i have read every post concering king pins that search brought up in the first 20 pages and did not find anything on the specs of the bores.

king pins have some play inside the axle bores, planning on going with the .01 oversized pins.

What size do i need to tell my machine shop guy to bore the axle bores to? is it the OD of the new king pin, or .001 larger or smaller than king pin?

also planning to do the loctite job to the new bushings in the spindles. i made a newbie mistake and got overspray in the spindle bores. any advise on how to get the paint out if paint thinner wont work? (dont want to use anything too abbrasive and hurt the bores)

only reason i put kinda urgent in the title is that i am wanting to order the parts tomorrow becasue the parts supplier has 10% off ending tomorrow

thanks
-LGringo

You might find this section from the shop manual informative:

Section on replacing kingpins - '54 shop manual

Kurt

NAPA used to list the diameters of the standard and .010 over king pin. I cannot tell if they still list the diameters because I am using a tablet computer and NAPA's handheld device interface gives limited information.

The Shop Manual that Kurt linked-to has the original king pin diameter at the end of the chapter.

take the pins, bushings, knuckles, and the axle to the shop
they should know what needs to be done to make it all fit together correctly. if not i'd find another shop.

You want loose enough to go together, but tight enough to stay in the bore when you put the pin in. .002" to .005" should be plenty clearance in my opinion. As far as paint in the bores, they are going to ream them anyway so it doesn't matter. If you are real worried about it, take a little sand paper to them, you won't remove enough material to worry about once you sand through the paint. These are pretty forgiving, exact sizes doesn't matter all that much, just get them as tight as you can but still spin in the bore.

Joe

only the bores on the spindles have paint in them. the spindles dont have to be reamed also right? only the axle bores? my spindle bores measure around 1.05 to 1.052 and the new OD on the bushings is 1.053. this is good enough tolerance for the bushings correct? (keeping in mind that the loctite 660 will be done on the bushings)


machine shop guy prolly would know(or at least have an oppinion) but he is just a worker at a metal fab shop, not an axle shop. I was just wanting to get a second oppinion from yall's wealth of knowledge yall have on me.

thanks a bunch
-LGringo

You're asking about reaming the hole in the axle, not the spindle bushings, right? I like to use an expansion reamer, and cut & try until the kingpin is a firm push fit through the axle- - - -basically a "zero-clearance" fit. Another method would be to ream or bore the hole slightly undersize, and do the final fit with some type of hone. That's not really necessary, IMHO. If the steering knuckle bushings are the press-in type that need to be hone-fitted, I like to finish them off on a Sunnen power hone to as close a slip fit as possible. The alignment between the bushings is critical, in addition to individual diameters, so use a long piloted power hone.
Jerry

Jerry is the man!

that is correct, i am just needing to bore/ream the hole in the axle, not the spindle. in order to keep the alignment of the bushings good i will loctite them with king pin "installed" to keep the line.


as far as the king pins themselves, i did not order them yet because i found that o'rielys can get them and are made in USA. they are about $40 more than the online supplier, but ill pay $40 for USA over chinesium. the part line at o'rielys is Rare Parts.

anyone ever used them before?


-LGringo

At the top of the page is the heading "Tech Tips" in this section go to "suspension and steering" there you will find a well writin artical on king pins and floating bushings on half ton trucks. mtcw

I have bought the Rare Parts brand from O'Reilly's and directly from Rare Parts (I found them via a Google Search on an O'Reilly's part number). They let you into their catalog, even if you are not a registered vendor.

http://www.rareparts.com/

I do not know where they are made but they look to be very good quality (original-style tie-rod end).

I used Hotrod's technique for over-boring an axle ( I wish I had known this technique before I guessed it). I used a brake cylinder hone to obtain the final tight fit (and, I froze the pins before installing the pins/assembly).

I have decided to do the reaming myself. I like that idea better, I'm trying to do most of the work myself, save money and more pride/satisfaction.

anyone have an opinion on brand or type of adjustable reamer to buy? (high-speed steel ,solid carbide, or carbide-tipped, straight flute or right hand flute)

thanks
-LGringo

LGringo,

I will not be home until Monday, but I'll post the brand that I bought on eBay. It was an adjustable reamer that had a starting diameter to match the standard diameter. It cost me about $40 shipped.

For a 1/2 ton or a 3/4 ton, you'll need a straight-flute adjustable reamer, 27/32" to 15/16". It's available from ENCO, part #334-1113. My catalog is a few years old, but the price there is $20.21. Use lots of cutting fluid and ream a few thousandths at a time. You can always make the hole a little bigger. It's hard to put the metal back in there when you get it too big!

use-enco.com

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INSRAR2&PMAKA=334-1113&PMPXNO=946261

Jerry

Thanks for the replys guys. I'm excited about doing this myself. School took WAY too much time this semester ( guess it's for a good reason though ) so not as much progress was made in the past few months as I planned. I am hoping to get this front axle back together before my Christmas break is over.

Should be able to order a reamer Tuesday and get on with it. Thanks again for the help, I will be sure to post on how it works out (and then probably ask some advise on whatever task I take on next)

thanks
-LGringo