Gm dana 60 king pin replacement on truck. (1 Viewer)

[darwink1]

Im about to attempt replacing the king pins on my gm d60 front axle and was wondering how far i need to tear down the hub assy. Never done the job before and im using the pirate faq for reference.

All of the the pictures i am finding show a bare knuckle and im wondering if i can get away with just taking the caliper, locking hub and outer axle c clip off. Will there be enough slack to slide the knuckle over the upper king pin with the outer axle sliding in the hub?

First time doing this job so i have no clue what the tricks are. Have yukon rebuild kits and forgex lower pin.

Thanks

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[darwink1]

Sorry about the double post, i blame my phone....

Dug into the ds side a bit, have the steering arm off and this set up doesnt seem to use a spring or spring cap dealie. Bottom side of the steering arm is flat and theres a circular washer on top of the kp bushing.

About to pry the bushing out and start workin on the bottom.

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[darwink1]

[URL=http://s818.photobucket.com/user/charlesk11charles/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150514_152945_zpsscfbezrk.jpg.html] [/URL]

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[darwink1]

Removed lower kp and tried to slip the whole hub and knuckle assy over the top kp but no go. Even with the c clip off the outer axle there isnt enough play to get it over, short by 1/8".

So i cracked lose the upper kp using a 7/8 allen with a lengh of 1/4 wall dom slid over the end and another pipe slid over the dom. Had about 6' of breaker on it and she let go with a nice crack.

Im figurin i can support the knuckle with the spindle and hub still attached then unscrew the upper kp. Might be toght to pound out the lower race and dust cap but i should have room.

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[GLTHFJ60]

I'd take the whole hub and spindle assembly off if it were me.

That high-steer arm has no mechanism for adding preload at all. That's unexpected.

 

[darwink1]

Wierd eh? Upper was solid tho it was the lower that was loose....

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[GLTHFJ60]

The thing about that though is that if the kingpin has no preload then all of the force will be on the upper, not on the lower. Think about it, the springs drive the axle housing down and is stopped by the upper if there is no preload.

I think new high-steer arms are in need here, or drill and tap those ones for some large set screws like these. For $95 a pair, you really can't lose:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/axle...ringless-high-steer-arms-50-each-95-pair.html

 

[darwink1]

I think these are old style ones that use shims to set preload. If it gets loose again ill look into new arms for sure.

So after cracking the upper kp loose i supported the hub and knuckle in an intricate web of ratchet straps and unscrewed it. Now the whole knuckle and hub slid off and out came the axle. Punched out the old dust cap and race from the lower c, cleaned everything up and reassembled. Used a ball joint press to set the new race while tapping the c lightly and she went in nice. Lower seal went in after the bearing and held everything together. My buddy dan stopped by and we threw the axle back in and the knuckle. The upper kp seal was put in and the upper kp got screwed back on and torqued using the 5' breaker. Grease bushing spacer arm and done.

No play whatsoever so im happy for now. Planning to do the passenger side monday even though it has no noticeable play.

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[maxamillion2345]

I'd drill and tap for sure man, you need a substantial amount of preload on these things.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Glad you got her back together!!

Where are the pics? lol

 

[darwink1]

Greasy hands make for no touchie phone man. Ill take some shots when i do the other side.

The whole point of this post was to see if the job could be done without removing the hub from the spindle and spindle from knuckle (every video and how to picture showed just the bare knuckle). It would be an easier way to do it if the axle was on a bench and already disassembled but i didnt want to mess with that. Now i have my answer.

And now im gonna order new arms..... lol.

I understand the whole preload dealie and it would be nice to be able to get rid of the play that will eventually develop just by turning a screw. That being said as far as initial preload goes i think these arms exert enough pressure on the bushing. I have never had the death wobble ppl keep talking about until there was play in the ds side which kinda makes sense. Bushing wears, i cant adjust the preload with these arms (besides putting another shim under the arm) death wobble ensues.

Just to clarify this death wobble thing. My steering wheel would shimmy side to side when making turns only, in a straight line it was fine. When the pins were tight the van had no shimmy whatsoever...

Enough rambling gotta get off my ass and do some untruck related work at my "job".

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[GLTHFJ60]

Just to clarify this death wobble thing. My steering wheel would shimmy side to side when making turns only, in a straight line it was fine. When the pins were tight the van had no shimmy whatsoever...

This happens to me on occasion and I need to go increase preload more. Annoying to have to do it on a fairly regular basis, but at least I don't have to add shims!

Glad that you were able to do it without removing the whole spindle assembly. I think I'll give the same thing a shot when I order a kit!

 

[darwink1]

So johnny, youre saying that periodically the wobble appears and you just tighten up the preload dealie on your arms and that cures it? That right there is reason enough to grab a set of the arms you posted. Just gonna confirm theyre the same length as the ones i have on there now before ordering a set. Thanks btw.

Honestly, if you had a buddy to help you you dont even need to remove the locking hub or c clip. Unless youre hercules and can manage to put the axle shaft in while simultaneously holding the knuckle and hub.

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[boots4]

And now im gonna order new arms....

I think you could save the cost and just drill/tap out your current arms for a preload screw. Use the current grease hole as your pilot and then relocate the grease hole. Unless of course you aren't happy with the current arms and want something different. Should be pretty simple and a cheap mod.

 

[darwink1]

I would be tempted to try but am wondering what the bottom of the preload screw looks like. In my head i see it having some sort of flat washer lookin dealie that pushes on the bushing. Would the washer be a part of the stud or just a stud pushing the washer pushing the bushing?

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[GLTHFJ60]

So johnny, youre saying that periodically the wobble appears and you just tighten up the preload dealie on your arms and that cures it? That right there is reason enough to grab a set of the arms you posted. Just gonna confirm theyre the same length as the ones i have on there now before ordering a set. Thanks btw.

Honestly, if you had a buddy to help you you dont even need to remove the locking hub or c clip. Unless youre hercules and can manage to put the axle shaft in while simultaneously holding the knuckle and hub.

D

Yup, exactly. I had a little bit of wobble today, so I'll put the front end up and drive the stud in a bit more. I have to do it every couple of months being a DD and probably less if I took the time to rebuild the kingpins like you did.

I would be tempted to try but am wondering what the bottom of the preload screw looks like. In my head i see it having some sort of flat washer lookin dealie that pushes on the bushing. Would the washer be a part of the stud or just a stud pushing the washer pushing the bushing?

D

The stud just pushes on the washer, which pushes on the upper busing.

 

[darwink1]

Gotcha, thanks. How thick is the washer? I can see a thin one deforming....

And before ordering the full kit for a rebuild take a look at your lower bearings. If theyre good maybe u can get away with just the bushing. My bearings looked fine and so did the upper kp just the bushing was noticeably worn.



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[Mace]

I may not have read into this well enough, but why did you pull the uppity king pin out of you were just replacing the bushing?

Death wobble is not your small vibrations around a corner. It feels like your entire front end is trying to shake itself loose. It's violent and uncontrollable. Fairly scary when it happens the first time!

 

[Redgrrr]

Just to clarify this death wobble thing. My steering wheel would shimmy side to side when making turns only, in a straight line it was fine. When the pins were tight the van had no shimmy whatsoever...



D[/QUOTE]


High steer on a van?

 

[Mace]

Something like this possibly???