King Pin Question

[Ford_Doctor]

When ordering king pins for my F250 I have metal or nylon bushings as an option. Question is are they interchangeable and one being better than the other or are they specific.

[oldschoolrods]

They are much easier to do if you have the nylon bushings, When I did mine I stripped one side down to find out what kind of bushing they were, if they're nylon they should drive right out, metal you will need the torch.

[FORDification]

Nylon bushings can be done by yourself in the driveway, but won't last as long. I've heard reports of only getting 50,000 on those. Brass bushings will have to be pressed in and reamed to the kingpin size by a local machine shop, but with proper lubrication they'd probably outlast the truck. I only had about $50 for the kingpin set and another $50 to get the brass bushings pressed in and reamed.

...and I don't think you should ever take a torch to those bushings! It would be WAY too easy to really mess things up. It's just my opinion, but I think if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. If you use the brass bushings, chances are you'll never have to worry about them again. The peace of mind is definitely worth the few extra bucks.

[oldschoolrods]

ok now I'm confused. It was my understanding that 65-66 used brass bushings and 67-72 used a metal non brass bushing or nylon bushings

[Faithful Old Road Dog]

I actually thought they were bronze bushings. They're no fun to take out.

[Ford_Doctor]

Thanks for the quick response guys. So I guess I'm looking at the metal bushings then.

[FORDification]

Peter: you're right...they're bronze, not brass. Brass would be way too soft to use in that application.

oldschoolrods: To the best of my knowledge Ford never used nylon bushings, but if they did I'd sure be interested in hearing about it.

Here's a pic of the factory bronze bushings pressed out of the '79 spindles that I installed on my '67:

http://www.fordification.com/images/myk ... shings.jpg

[willowbilly3]

Here's another bit of wisdom on the kingpins. If you grease them everytime you change the oil they will never need replaced. My 72 has almost 200,000 miles with regular lube and it has all the original kingpins and steering linkage, although it is ready for some outer tierod ends. It also has 2 or the 3 original u-joints (I grease them too)

[oldschoolrods]

Keith I don't know if this is would mean they used different bushings or not but I was looking through dennis carpenters catalog. Under kingpins it says plastic bushings for 67-71 with spindle stamped c8ta-3107-D. For 71-72 it says stamped steel for 71-72 spindles stamped D2TA-3107-BA.

Edit: I believe my origonal confusion was that I thought my king pins were origonal and when I had talked to a guy he said they came out with Nylon bushings around that time to make it easier but he might of meant aftermarket parts.

[John]

Have you all ever tryed the Kiaser kingpins on your trucks? We use them on class 8 trucks easy to instal, and have had no Problems at all . Been using them for 5years now. just a suggestion

[FORDification]

oldschoolrods: that's just what DC has available, not how they came from the factory. You can go to any auto parts store and order either bronze or nylon, so I'm not sure why DC is only offering certain ones. However, right about the cut-off point that DC is talking about Ford did some changes to kingpin diameter. In fact, they even sent out bulletins telling all the dealers than a lot of '71s were going to have '72 front ends:

[NM5K]

yea, not totally sure, but I don't think ford ever used the nylon bushings at the factory...Or at least on the older models...Even my 74...The guy I got it from changed the bushings on it years ago....I think it had bronze bushings original, but he replaced them with nylon...Actually, they seem to have held up fairly well so far...The front end is still tight, and wearing tires normal.
Bad kingpin bushings will usually eat tires like crazy...Ask me how I know... My 68 ate tires bad until I rebuilt the front end. I used bronze bushings on it...I had them pressed out/in at an auto machine shop. I also don't recommend using a torch...It's easier just to pull the axles and take them to a machine shop. Don't forget the pivot bushings on the axles! Those are about 20 bucks a pop for the standard version...Also radius arm bushings...
Heck, might as well do it all.... Thats what I did...I even replaced all the steering parts...Made it like a new truck. And now the tire wear is very low, and even. It's been nearly two years, and my tires still look like new nearly..
The previous set I ate up in two years... Myself, the only way I'd go
nylon is if there were *no* machine shops around anywhere...Actually,
you can ream the bronze at home , if you have a reamer...Just do a little at a time, until it fits tight. With a good ream, the kingpin should be able to
slide into the spindle fairly easy, but snug enough to where it will stay in the spindle without falling out from it's own weight. But if I had no shop, and no reamer, I'd just slap the nylon in, and cross my fingers that they would last...My 74 has done ok with them so far...
MK

[71f100]

I have just replaced KingPins in my '71 and went for the metal option, borrowed a reem from the maintenance shop at work and did the job at home. (No torch either). Also replaced the steering box with one from a '78. that was about all I had left to replace in the front end and I am most happy now . KingPins have made a huge difference.
Just for my 2 Bobs worth, I would not touch the Nylons either, unless I had no other choice. Tried a set before I did the disc brake conversion. I am pretty hard on the poor thing some times and they just didn't handle it. I was not real happy straight after doing the job, let alone a few months later when I did the conversion! New bronze ones in now and it is rock solid.

[oldschoolrods]

Thanks keith I understand now. Like i said just was confused thinking mine were origonal.