

The core principles remain the same when these concepts are applied to other suspension types like the MacPherson strut. Suspension concepts are easier to explain in the context of double-wishbone suspensions. Steering Axis ExplainedĪ quick note before we start we’ve used double wishbone or double A-arm suspension type as the main example throughout this guide. Why then do cars do this? And does it have any detrimental effects? Read on as we explain king pin inclination - what it is, what it does, and why you should know about it.

We’ve explained this in our positive and negative wheel camber article. Positive camber on the outside tire, andīut wait, isn’t that a bad thing? Ideally, to ensure a flat contact patch, you want negative camber on the outside tire when you’re cornering.To be more precise, turning in either direction will result in:
King pin for truck full#
You’ll notice that your wheels gain a slight amount of camber when you turn the steering wheel to full lock in either direction. To see this in action, park your car on a smooth surface, and have someone else operate the steering wheel while you watch your tires turn. This happens because of a suspension angle called king pin inclination. In simpler words, they are never perfectly straight when they turn - they’ll always tilt slightly. Randy did an awesome Tech Tip with step-by-step instructions, warnings and incredible details.Have you ever noticed how the front wheels on your car turn? Look closely and you’ll see that they do not pivot around a vertical axis. Little bug deflectors with the airplane propellers on them! The extra effort and keep yer money for more important things - like them cute Pay out the backside to replace kingpings, too. Some guys say you don't have to do this - some guys This takes the stress off the bushings so grease can flow all the Always, jack the front axle off the ground when The job, it's off to the alignment shop, and I insist they not heat the axle.īy the way, do you guys know what kills the king pins? Not enough grease, and I'm not sure I'm sold on Teflon bushings, So far, it has worked every time - that's about 80 or so kingpins. I let the weight of the truck help push the old kingpins Now comes the the good part - WHAM-WHAM-WHAM - WHAM - tink - a baby sledge right to the side of the Of the jack and jack up the truck just slightly off the jackstand - about a Place a bottle jack with a bolt smaller than the kingpin diameter on the top I mention soaking the kingpins from the top and bottom too? I thought so.Īfter the retaining bolts come out, comes the fun. Next day I put an impact on the bolt heads and TIGHTEN just alittle - very little I never use W-D 40 because it evaporates.

blaster, (some guys like k-w knocker loose, etc., but not me). Then wire brush the area until the metal is clean. Of grease! I use a propane torch to heat the crud after I've scraped off all I can. Is basically the same as on pre '55 light trucks.įirst thing to remove is the retaining bolts-and 2 inches of crud and 50 years Off you guys have to remember the same technology used on todays semi tractors
King pin for truck pdf#
You'll need to download the pdf file in order to get all the details. Dave "Koolkar" Feltner gave us this Tech Tip a while ago and Randy Baumann expanded it to include technical drawings.
