New King Pin - How much rotation?

[1972F100]

Hi guys.

Refresh of my 72 f100 is moving along slowly. I've got the front end torn down, and removed the suspension parts with the intention of getting new wear parts in.

Got new king pins, metal, had the right side installed today at a shop down the street. The new pin seems awfully restricted in rotation, compared to the old ones. The old ones were nylon, of some unknown age, that allowed the spindle to rotate all the way to the rear (clockwise) and all the way to the front (counterclockwise) until the spindle back contacts the ibeam.

I can understand the old ones were worn and might have allowed an excess of play, but the new one only rotates a little counterclockwise, and I'm not sure things are right.

The installation looks clean, and nothing seems to not be in the place where it should be, at least when looking at the parts left in the kit (other side still needs to be installed) and when comparing to the other king pin.

Does this amount of rotation seem OK for new pins or is something wrong?

Thanks
Douglas

[fordman]

have they been greased? are you turning it by hand or by the steering wheel?

[1972F100]

Fordman - they're greased. Turning it by hand. All of the suspension parts are off the truck right now.

Thanks
Douglas

(PS - always enjoy your comments in all the threads, thanks for the info and motivation!)

[fordman]

i would think like your thinking and it should turn freely. they do have to reem out the bushings in order to fit the king pin to the bushing. maybe they didnt reem it out enough. and that is why it is so tight feeling. or maybe they figure it will wear its way to the right position. this may be a question for someone who knows more than me abotu them though.

[CommrclDiver]

A little off topic but I am in the process of replacing the I-beams on my '71 after hitting a curb at around 60 mph (that was over 7 years ago and many miles since). The right tire (the only one that hit the curb, the other three sailed over the top of it) leans a little but other than a little abnormal tire wear it drives straight. I call it a testament to "Built FORD Tough" . Anyway my brother told me about a front end shop that offers a poly-urathane injection where they heat up some poly beads and inject them into your grease fittings. They say you never have to grease them afterwards. So I opted for the nylon bushings and go in for the poly injection. It will be a while before I actually get around to it but I will let yall know how it works out. Just throwing that out there as a viable alternetive to brass bushings. Shoot you could even do it with brass.

[BobbyFord]

Yeah, I don't know how that "never having to grease" your front end is going to work out in the long scope of things. Moving parts wear out, keeping moving parts lubricated is a key factor in reducing friction and wear.
Cars built today do not have zerk fittings because cars today are not engineered to still be on the road in 30+ years.

[fordman]

i agree with bobby. the poly injection would probably wear out sooner or later in a daily driver type of truck. its a good idea to maybe make a quicky repair on a truck or car you wanted to dump real fast and not put any money into. i wonder in 100,000 miles how hard it would be to get the king pin out after a poly injection.

[crazyhorse]

That poly injection MAY be great, will wait & see.
I KNOW keeping EVERTHING GREASED & OILED DOES WORK.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

[onetuford]

I put in a new set of nylon bushed pins and the spindle moves freely as though turning left and right with no play up and down or top to bottom.