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Hello,

I have just bought a Clipper De Luxe 1956, and while lubricating it, I discovered that one of the king pin lower lubricator fitting was missing.
I wonder if anybody know the dimension and threads for this item. (Strangely enough in the parts list, it seems that the seemingly identical lubrication fittings have different part numbers!).
I am living in Norway and has just become a member.

Rocky46

I'm not certain what was originally supplied on your car, others can answer that perhaps. But only a single upper grease fitting on king pins is quite common as they normally had a grease passage to allow the grease to pass thru to the lower bearings. Often replacement king pin kits had both upper and lower fittings and original equipment had only a single upper. If you only have one, continuing use of the grease gun should eventually show grease reaching the other end.

If your lower end cap on the pin assembly has an open hole where a grease fitting was once present, by all means install a new fitting. The come in a variety of styles ranging from "press in" types to several different threads, straight heads, angled and various angles, etc. A good service shop that deals with American cars should have an assortment to pick thru, otherwise just go to a place like Restoration Supply and order a couple of different styles and types if you can't identify the specific one you need. It's not uncommon on older cars to find some grease fittings plugged and not able to accept grease, so a small assortment of fittings might prove handy in the future, easier to replace than to remove and clean.

I you have a Harbor Freight in your area (or via their website), they carry a box of assorted grease fittings for like $10. Using this box i was able to replace all the fittings on my '54 Clipper which should be almost identical to your 56 as far as the grease fittings go.

Most of my fittings were clogged with hardened grease, so it was just easier to replace them all.

Quote:G'day Rocky46,
Congratulations on your purchase and to PackardInfo.

I invite you to include your '56 Clipper De Luxe in the Packard Owner's Registry here, together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it?

Zerk type grease fittings on old American autos are pretty much confined to two thread sizes: 1/8 NPT and 1/4-28 (SAE-LT).

A 55 Packard should have 1/4-28 fittings and these are available via McMaster-Carr on the web given you are overseas.

On these king pin cars I really can't stand the way the grease caps leak and so I usually remove the top fitting, clear the passages out with a welding rod, inject heavy oil into the unit, and let it soak. I think half the time king pin failure is due to the units never really getting any grease due to leaking end caps.

Thank you for your help and advise in this matter.

Rocky 46

Rocky46,
for including your '56 Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan in the Packard Owner's Registry.