King Pins (continued from Bridgestone review)

[murray720]

I received the replacement King Pin set today but I was expecting it to include bushings. Am I a missing something? Are the bushings part of another set?

1963 220s (One- eyed Jack)

Where did you order from? Fastlane doesn't have a catalog per say for the fintails. Did you go through partsshop? I'm curious because I was looking at fintails but turned away by the lack of available parts.
Thanks
Tim

[cth350]

Fintail mechanical parts are readily available. The cosmetic stuff is only available used or wickedly expensive via the dealers. But, it's all available. If it's not in the on-line catalog, call the 1-800 number and ask. -CTH

[kip Foss]

Murry,

Why king pins and bushings don't come in a set is beyond me. Obviously if the pins are worn enought to need replacement the bushings are gone too. Remember that when you install the bushings; 1. use a bushing driver, and, 2. don't forget that the bushings will have to be honed to size. Bushing homes are not very common. I know cause I just did king pins on my big tractor and had to end up going to a truck suspension shop for the hone.

[GermanStar]

The upper and lower control arm bushings that hold the kingpins in place are only offered as separate kits. As you noted, they should almost without exception be replaced along with the kingpins.

[psfred]

Look for trunion kits -- they are the upper and lower fittings (I'm not sure I'd call them bushings because there is a bushing kit that replaces the control arm parts) that contain the contact surfaces for the kingpin and the swivel for the control arms.

I'd be quite surprised if the kingpins were bad and the trunions not!

Peter

[joshhol]

Murray,
Just curious how much the set cost.

By the way, why is it One Eyed Jack?

Please tell me you didn't lose a Euro headlight.

[murray720]

I'm a little concerned. I thought replacing a King Pin was going to be similar to replacing a Tie-Rod. Meaning, I was expecting a to use a pickle fork and an afternoon. It seems like the King Pin is a much larger job, which needs the assistance of a machine shop.
I'm even starting to second-guess that the King Pin is even the problem as someone told me I shouldn't be able to drive with a busted King Pin. Is this true?

I was hoping to get under it this weekend for a little exploratory surgery but had to put it off till this evening. Wish me luck.


Joshol,

I did smash my lens during a parallel parking attempt. I knew I cut it close but but but ...What can I say.

and I bought the King Pin set off of ebay from the unpopular, "importbaron." http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...&category=42609
I didn't realize, when I bought it, that other ShopForum Members had less than pleasant experiences with him, but he seemed ok to me and sent me the parts the very next day for $300 less than the dealer.

[psfred]

A broken king pin will cause the front wheel on the affected side to fall over -- usually undrivable.

Here's how a kingpin suspension works on a Benz:

The kingpin is the vertical pivot for the front wheels. This suspension has unequal length control arms with two bushings on the inner end (greased) and one on the outer end (greased). The kingpin goes between the upper an lower control arms, with the steering knuckle sitting in between. The upper control arm bushing is part of the kingpin, the lower is separate.

The kingpin is held rigidly between the upper casting and the lower trunion with the steering knuckle "floating" on rubber seals inbetween, which means it must be shimmed to get the correct clearance. The steering knuckle must also fit with the proper clearance -- there are two straight bushings inside the tube of the steering knuckle.

The lower turnion is a taper fit, and will be the worst part of taking the old kingpin out, they tend to be VERY stuck.

To check:

Raise front wheels off the ground. Attempt to move wheel directly in and out at top and bottom. If there is any significant play, locate the loose parts. Upper and lower trunions can be worn, so can the bushings at the inner end of the control arms. Lower control arm is difficult to check since the spring is under tension, but you will be able to check the trunion.

There must be very little up and down play (ie the steering knuckle shouldn't move up and down).

Steering knuckle must turn freely full right and full left with no noise or stiffness, or roughness of motion.

Usual failure is a siezed steering knuckle -- I don't think I've ever heard of a car with a broken kingpin being driveable, as the upper control arm won't be attached to anything.

There are repair kits for both trunions, not a bad job for either one.

Peter

[murray720]

psfred, thanks for the great description (as always).

i got under her last night (off the suspension) and the center tie-rod was the only thing loose. I got one on order and i'm expecting the repair to go as planned, a pickle fork and an afternoon.

[psfred]

I would think the center link will take care of the problem.

Grease everything every couple months -- both inner bushings on all four control arms, the three grease fittings on each kingpin, and the swivel and rear U-joint at the back.

Peter

[Walter59SL]

As an aside, if you hear any squeaking when you puxh down on the fender, your (usaullly upper) trunion needs greease BAD. Usually it is shot and will not even take any grease, but that way you know for sure you have to open it up. It is a BIG job to do the king pins. Best left to a front end shop. Countless times I recall using a torch to heat things up so they might take grease or at least allow them to be taken apart. It is an ugly messy heavy job. Usually you need all sorts of new rubber things and what not. It can be dangerous too, if you do not support the car. Plus you need some way of relieving the pressure of the spring as you take it apart. You really need to be extra careful if you never done it before. Not for the faint of heart. Don't let me scare you, but I do not like that job at all and I grew up at my dad's shop where we only worked on pre-68 MBs.

Walt...

[wbain5280]

Look at the graphic behind Mike's write up on subframe mount replacement. That will give you an idea just what is available.

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W108Subframe

Maybe I can post a pic from the W108 spare parts table I have.

[murray720]

STRIKE 1

Last night I went out to change One-eyed Jack's center-tie rod when I look at the replacement part and realize "importbaron" sent me the wrong part. I'll let you know how the exchange goes.

[cth350]

He's been known to do that. Usually he's a nice guy about it. -CTH