How To Replace Kingpin Bushing And Assemble An Early Ford Front Suspension 

Good tip. I don’t have formal training so I’m sure I have plenty of bad habits.

Thanks for watching!

Glad it was helpful!

I agree, things were built to last not planned to break after a certain amount of time!

@@motorfreaknew I have also use a THREAD FILE. Not fast , but cheap.

Thanks Jim that means a lot!

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Thanks for watching!

Thank you as I have a 57 Willys station wagon 4x4 that I'll be working on hopefully soon !

Yep they work fine, just a bummer when you have the right tool and then the kingpins don’t fit. Glad you worked through it!

Hope it helps!

Thanks for watching! Yea they hook us up with some good tools and supplies!

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Thanks Glenn!

Thanks Mark!

The right tools make all the difference!!

Thanks! Just sharing the little bit I know. Not an expert just giving others a heads start!

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An adjustable reamer works well too!

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Just a young guy still learning but I thought I’d take some of the fear or mystery out of the job for other beginners like I was not too long ago. I avoided this job for a long time because it seemed so scary haha

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Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching!

They’re super handy!

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Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching!

The stuff is around, you just have to find it, and ofcourse have the cash to afford it !

I’ll need to gather all of them up and do tha!

I did that once, just drilled a new one

Yep happens sometimes! Just gotta start over in my experience

Sorry about that brain fart!

Thanks young guy mistake. I’ve been chastised 3000 times in the comments so I’ll never forget. But to be fair I’ve been doing that for ages and never had a reamer go dull. I’m sure there’s truth to the theory but I feel like it’s maybe after prolonged times of doing it. Appreciate everyone keeping me honest.

I’ve had it happen before on modern offshore aftermarket bushings. A lot of times I just knock them back out and redo with new bushings. But you can sometimes spin them by getting a drift in the grease holes and pulling it to realign. It’s never fun when it does happen!

If the bushing is loose replace it now. It is called line reaming. Reamers are designed to run slower than a drill bit, don't use a power tool to rotate (too fast could produce chatter increasing the hole diameter). If the cross hole doesn't match simply run a drill bit smaller than the tapped hole through to clear any blockage. If there a bushing grease groove connect the new drilled one with a rotary burr or scraper. But deburr the new bushing hole by running the line reamer through again. _ A deburring tool can easily be made from an old 3 cornered file it's grooves are probably rounded anyway. Using your pedistal grinder notch, grind and snap most of it's length away leaving about 3 inches in front of the tang. Carefully point the front not turning the steel blue. Then using the wheel's radius hollow grind the 3 flats to sharp corners. Put a handle on the tang which fits your hand. If you didn't turn any American made steel blue you have a tool to scrape/trim burrs from any sharp corner hole diameter or opening (cast iron engine block). The hollow ground edges may be resharpen when needed. Every hole you drill in anything should be deburred. Most should be chamfered - usually with a countersink but on irregular surfaces the above shop made tool excells!

Noga Engineering makes professional grade deburring tools for every purpose for those not wanting to hand craft their own. If you have a set of drills you need a deburring tool!

Hope it helps!

Hi Harry, the holes for the kingpin locks/steering stops on the axle is the way to tell the larger side of the hole is the front for the lock pin to pull through.

I’ve used them before but this one should sit ok as is

I’d google “ford kingpin reamer” and buy one from a early ford specialist.

Just when they get play in them. All a matter of how hard of a life the car lived or if they have ever been done.

I’ve used an adjustable reamer but usually it’s just grease or rust that is causing the issue and a sandpaper on a drill will work or a small tootsie sandpaper roll works

No bushings needed or available. If that kingpin hole in the axle got worn that bad it would have wrecked a spindle. You’d see that by eye. Spring perch hole can’t really get egg shaped as it goes through the wishbone too.

All the way up to 48 ford and also f1 pickups. Same diameter kingpins for all straight axle fords and 1/2 ton trucks from model a-48 ford cars and later into F1 pickups.