King Pins

Suspension, steering, brakes, wheels & tires

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wildcard
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King Pins

Post by wildcard »

Went for an alignment and the tire shop says I have to have new king pins. I was wondering if I put off a few weeks if it is going to cause more than extra wear on my tire ? Or is there a danger of the wheel falling off ?
They say there's 1/4" on one side and 3/8"on the other.
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fireguywtc
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Re: King Pins

Post by fireguywtc »

I think your tire wear will definetly be more then normal, but not too much for a couple of weeks, depending on how much you drive. It is difficult to say as far as safety and the numbers you give. is the measurement slop in the pins or what? Both of my king pins were sloppy and would wiggle when off the ground, they had quite a bit of wear on them, but I believe I wasn't close to them falling off. The king pins are built like they were for a tank. You could probably get by for a couple of weeks or whatever, but it may not technically be "safe." Its difficult to say for sure without seeing them in person.
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Re: King Pins

Post by fordman »

a bad king pin could IF used long enough. could eat away the metal of the ibeam and the spindle. as well as the bushing. i have never seen on do it. but it could happen. if left unfixed. king pins really need to be maintained after they are new and even old ones need grease too. but the wheels wont fall off. but they should probably be replaced to get a good alignment and less tire wear.
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wildcard
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Re: King Pins

Post by wildcard »

I think the measurements were the movement of the tire shake.
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Re: King Pins

Post by crazyhorse »

if they (king pins ) are dry, pump some VERY heavy grease in them would help a little bit in the 2 weeks you have got to go.
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ximy
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Re: King Pins

Post by ximy »

It doesn't sound like your kingpins are all that bad... and you didn't mention any steering problems
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wildcard
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Re: King Pins

Post by wildcard »

They get greased along with everything else about every 4 months. Around 8000 highway miles.
The steering is still pretty good. No bad pulling but when I hit a small hole in the road, it has a different feel and sound.
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Re: King Pins

Post by 1971ford »

Hmm. Typical alignment shops... buy this from us and buy that. What was there evidence for you needing new king pins??
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Re: King Pins

Post by rlgrantjr »

I was told the same thing when I bought new tires this summer.
They could not align it because the kingpins were worn and the wheel
bearings needed re-packed. The said excessive movement of the
wheel when moving the top of the tire back and forth was what they found.

I don't doubt that both the items they sited need attention. I just had too many
other things on the truck that needed to be done so I could drive it to work
and ran out of time before it got cold. I work close to home so I'm not worried
about the tires for now.
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Re: King Pins

Post by Alvin in AZ »

wildcard wrote: They get greased along with everything else about every 4 months.
Around 8000 highway miles.
My '75 has gotten greased about every 3000 miles, time hadn't ever been figured in.
There have been times I went through water and greased them up just because and
then 3000 miles after that etc.

I write the future mileage for the next oil change and lube on the dash with a pencil. :)
Just like we did the company trucks. :)

All that greasin' and the kingpin thrust-bearings still wore out! LOL :)
I've seen some that were the roller bearing type, but never had any on my '75 F150.

Alvin in AZ
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