Thread: King pin to spindle fit

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How tight should the king pins fit into the spindle? I was able to get one side mounted, although the spindle seems a little stiff to turn. The other side will not fit through the spindle at all.

I am thinking I may need to have the bushings reamed, they were installed in the spindles I bought, and I assumed they were ready to install.

How much clearance should there be?

It is a honed fit. Take them to a machine shop with the new kingpins and they will ream them to the proper size, usually about $ 20- $ 50. When you press them in they have to be finished off this way to fit.


Don

WE ream the spindle bushings .002 over the kingpin size.It is a job for a qualified shop with the correct equiptment.Frank @ ECD Performance

Originally Posted by ecdperf

WE ream the spindle bushings .002 over the kingpin size.It is a job for a qualified shop with the correct equiptment.Frank @ ECD Performance

If the bushings are .002 over the king pin size, that must be a really tight fit!!! I use sintered bronze bushings and fit things a bit looser.....

I bought a kingpin set to install in my original 37 spindles, took the whole thing to a good machine shop and let them do the fitting. This shop is known to be expensive but I think their the best, and you get what you pay for. Cost was about $80.00. When I put them on, they fit perfect. Even though I have the equipment to do the job, I didn't want to take any chances. Dennyw is right about the fit, snug and you should never, ever force the kingpin. Good luck.

It's funny that I found this thread. We just replaced kingpins in three tractors here at the shop(International 9100's). The procedure that Denny described is PERFECT. We don't hone our spindles. Just polish them up. The fit should be a hard hand press. The pins we installed here we also had to install inner bushings. Top and bottom. Pressed in. One thing that I like to do is wipe down the kingpin with a very light oil. It helps to slide in the spindle. Other than being an 80,000 pound truck, sounds like an identical process.