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Hi all,

Ok, time to get back to work.

I need a fools guide to replacing the king pins and bearings.

I have the new pins and bearings. While I just replaced the shackle pins and leaf springs I did not attempt the king pins as its one thing at a time. The old pins are currently covered in hardened oil and grease, as soon as the wind drops below 100mph I will go out and de-grease them.

Pat.

Can't help with details as mine are still snug and never needed service other than lubrication once a year, but I suppose they aren't much different that other knuckle pin arrangements. Look for a locking device that holds the pin in place in the axle stub, either a thru-bolt or a tapered pin. With than removed and the end caps off, the pin should come out. I believe the original installation used caged needle bearings rather than simple bushings. If you have to replace the needle bearings with bushings, you should ream to ID, DON'T hone unless absolutely necessary as it will tend to close the pores in the bushing, the pores needed to hold lubricant.

Packard recommended either cup grease or heavy oil and heavy oil is far preferred because it will run by gravity from the upper reservoir to the lower bearing or bushing and grease is immobile and won't.

In all my years around 34 Packards I've never seen a king pin service kit so you may have to have new pins centerless ground by a good machine shop. If it turns out that the upper and lower bearings are indeed caged needles and you find an interchange with a modern part, I'd like very much to know the identification.

Perhaps others have done the pins in this vintage Packard and can provide exact details but it should be pretty much an intuitive job.

Check the home page of this site to see if there is PDF download for the manual and a parts cataloug. I don't know if there is or not.

Where did u get the king pins and bearings????

NOTE: Generaly, if needle brarings are used then the pin itself will need to be signifacantly harder than pins used on a bushing applicatation. I'm not a materials compatability expert, but this is one case where u mite want to verify that the pins are hard enuf if needle bearings are used.

Just to save you from using tons of degreaser and getting no-where. Start with a putty knive and scrape away as much of the material as you can. I also found that brake-cleaner makes a good degreaser to loosen up the remaining bits.

The accumulated grease-dirt-road grime-grease layers were 3" thick in some places on my '54 when I started that process.

Thanks for the information.

The pins are hardened steel. The bearings contain round balls. I tried to replace them with new ones but they are an unusual size. I got rebuilt bearings and the new pins from JD in Max Merritt.

I would not bother changing them but my Packard must pass a very strict test yearly to obtain its Public Service License. The last test showed some wear in them.

If they are anything like the 1930 (pin has race built into bottom of it, mating race in knuckle and loose balls) it took this 25 ton hydraulic ram and tooling I made for that ram to get the old pins out and new ones back in. Cannot recall just how I did the knuckle races.

John Oder

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Great tool for frozen king pins. The king pins on my 1940 required a kingpin removal tool for one side only, the other side was driven out with a drift and hammer. Installation was not slip fit but hand pressure. Also Johnoder have had chrome plating done in Houston, if can you recommend shop. thanks

Forgive my stupidity but do I have to remove the hub before getting to the pins? If so is it a 'nuts and bolts'?

Yes.

Basically thus Pat:

(referring to my 1930)

Wheels off hubs
Hubs off steering knuckles
Brake backing plates off steering knuckle both sides
Tie rod end off arm on steering knuckle both sides
Drag link front end off steering knuckle arm on steering wheel side.

John Oder

It might be a good idea to take the spindles to an auto machine shop. They have a hydraulic press to push out the old pins and a Sunnen hone to fit the new bearings (bronze type).

They can do in a few minutes what can take you hours and with no risk of damaged parts.