Ok guys... Help me out here. I called Napa, Federated, Auto-zone... and neither of them show a listing for king pins for my 68 F-100 4x4. I was told by others here that I have Mini-king pins, since obviously the pin can't go all the way through. I would figure these would be fairly available since they wear out on all vehicles of this type and age. Am I calling them by the wrong name or something? Thanks for any input you can provide. Thanks.

 

Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, visit the web site on-line and look through the various packages for the Dana 30, which I have been told are the same. As for the kingpins themselves, do they wear out? They ride inside the bearings as far as I can tell. My caps (dust?) are cracked, I am going to try welding them.

 

Jay, how about asking the parts place for a ball joint ? Some folks might call 'em spindle pivots or knuckle joints....The 4x4 trucks don't have a 'kingpin' in the front like the two wheelers do. DF

 

Jay,there are kingpings in some 4x4 front axles.They are called Trunnion pins and bearings.I found the bearings and dustcaps at the Ford dealer in Placerville CA for my 71 F-100 4x4. I cant remember the name of the dealership. The kingpins ride inside the bearing housing like a spindle shaft,you should not have to replace the kingpin unless it was somehow damaged.The bearings have a replaceable race just like a 2wdrive truck front end,there are two sets of bearings and races for each side top and bottom,all are identical.I still have the receipt and I will try to find it with a part number,also these bearings can be found at parts houses if you keep the old ones,they have a number stamped on them.Make sure you keep the shims that come off with the kingpins as you will need them when you set up the proper tension on the new bearings. Let me know if you need any more info as these are difficult front ends to get set up correctly.Also,the reason these bearings fail is there is no way to lube them on the truck. I center drilled each of my kingpins with a 3/32" drill then drilled in from the outside 3/8" deep and tapped it to receive a flush pin grease zerk.On the bottom or inside of the kingpin where it rests on the Hard rubber cusion I crosscut the end so that grease would be sent out to 4 places at the bearing.Now I grease it every time I lube the rest of the truck.Also if your kingpin is bad I think a good fabrication shop should be able to duplicate a new one if worse comes to worse. Hope this helps.
"bowties in the rearview mirror"

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 03-Dec-02 AT 11:50 PM (EST)]Great info thank you! I did find the bearings, races, and seals for this setup.

Two things:

Shims... How do I know what the proper setup is concerning bearing tension?

and...

You mention cushions that are inside the axle housing that cushion the king pin end... My truck axle is missing these! Can these be located or should I fab something out of urethane to suffice? You help is appreciated!

Great idea with the pins...I'll do that. The king pins look and feel fine. If I ever do need them would Dana 30 ones work?

Thanks again for the info!

 

The damper can be purchased from the same palce you got the king pins. The damper kit contains the damper and the metal washer on top of the damper and the dust cap. They were about $12 each. I set the bearing preload without the dampers so I had a few thousandths play then put it together with the dampers. When I called a few Bronco place and asked how they set them up they just put them back together with the shims that were removed. That didn't sound right to me so I set it up the way any bearing should be set. Theroreticly a tapered roller bearing in a near static situation should have a few thousandths preload rather than clearance. Without the clearance tho the damper would not be very effective. Buy the way I had to change all the bearing shim packs conciderably.

 

 

Jay, Brian has most of the info you needed,mabey he can give us the part numbers as I havent been able to find mine yet.If I remember correctly I had to drive the dust washers out behind the races as the races hold them in place then the rubber dampers go in before the bearing ,Brian may be able to verify this as it has been awhile since I did this.I found a Ford dealership mechanic who actually knew how to set up the bearing tension.As Brian stated you must set up the tension without the rubber dampers installed which means setting the whole thing up at least twice,make sure you set up with grease on the bearings.I was told to start by installing the lower kingpins without any shimms then set the top pin in and bolt it down finger tight.Check the spacing between the flat surfaces of the pins and housing,I used feeler guages,Then I put that thickness uf shimms on and started to tighten it up checking all the time to make sure they werent getting over tight.After several shimm adjustments I had it set so there was no play in the bearings.I was told by the mechanic to add shimms until I had 13 to 15 pounds of tension pull at the outer end of the wheel spindle which means it has to be bolted on temporary to get this setting.I used a fish scale and just hooked it to the spindle end and added shimms until I had 14 pounds of pull,forward and reverse motion of the hub and spindle mechanisim, when everything was tightened up.Dont put the dudtcaps on until you are ready for final installation as they are a frail item.Good Luck.
"bowties in the rearview mirror"
PS make sure you crosscut the bottom of the pin enough to let the grease get by the rubber dampers as it will act as a plug if you don't crosscut.

 

I have the part number at work but am on a working vacation for the next week. Jeffs Bronco graveyard in Brighton Michigan Had the best price at $12 each for the damper kit. I bought mine from Toms Bronco Parts in Medford Oregon. There number is 541-779-1339. The kit was obsoleted by work earlier this year so they are getting harder to find until somebody reproduces them. Good luck.

 

Please give me the part#, I'm desperate for the dampers.

 

JBG now longer carries the dampners, I did pick up two extra mini king pins though. I am going to make my own from some dust caps I picked up at PepBoys. I will let you know how that goes.

 

67-70 Dana 44 uses the same kingpin set up as the early bronco Dana 30.