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Tell me about Spridget Wishbone / Spring Pans...

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John Moore

John Moore

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I aquired a disc brake front from a '69 spridget from a fellow poster. I'm about to start to disassemble it in preperation for a rebuild for my '61 BE. I have all sorts of kingpin fulcrum movement so I'm certain it's worn. I've NEVER seen a threaded fulcrum pin! When I take it apart (if I can) how can I tell if just the kingpin and fulcrum is worn or if I also need to replace the wishbone too? Also any tips for getting it apart?

"wish" me luck.
 
The fulcrum pin IS worn. Sorry. It's a Spridget thing. Also, the threaded fittings that the hold the fulcrum pin are likely worn. Do a search for a-arm, and you will find all kinds of good info on how to deal with that. The best way to get the fulcrum pins out is with a cut off wheel or a sawzall.

The king pins may or may not be worn. Once you have them off the fulcrum pins, you should be able to do a conclusive wiggle test.
 
Thanks Morris, I did a ton of reading in the archives. I'm certain both the fulcrum and the kingpin are worn. I'll get new fulcrums and have the kingpins rebuilt. Now how do I determine if the threads in my A-arms are worn? And if they are can anyone recommend a someone who rebuilds them?
 
You can insert a new fulcrum pin and see how much play/slop it has in it.

When I rebuilt my suspension about 5 yrs ago, I felt as though mine needed to have new inserts. I did not have the money at the time. I'm still driving on them, but I am planning on replacing them.
 
Ugggg, I took my angle grinder to the frozen fulcrim pin and it looks like the blade got into the shoulder of the kingpin a little bit! I wonder if I've ruined it!
 
Here's a photo... maybe I should stop and send this to a pro before I do anymore damage! URRRRRR!!!!!
 

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John:

If you are in there already and the fulcrum pin is worn, most likely the A frame is also gone. My experiences are that the A frames are they seem wear quicker then the pin itself.

If you are in there it is easier to remove the whole a arm assembly (hopefully without recipricating saw) and replace every thing. If you do so, it will last for a long long time with proper maintenance and do you really want to ever have to go back in there again.

I have bought rebuilt a frames for about $100 + a lil bucks a piece. If you are going to get the swivel arms rebushed, you are already going 9 yards, so I would recommend the whole 10. I have always found that replacing everything for a g or so is the best way to go.

All of this is of course IMHO.

Pat
 
Pat,

Yeah, I don't want to do this piece meal. I'll do it once and right. I just saw apple will rebuild the A-Arms for $95, but if possible I would like to find another source too as they have gotten mixed reviews lately.
 
At Peter C's suggestion I just spoke to Eric at Riverside. I'll going to send the whole deal to him in exhange. Sounds like a plan.
 
King pins should be replaced anyway, throw them away.
 
John Moore said:
At Peter C's suggestion I just spoke to Eric at Riverside. I'll going to send the whole deal to him in exhange. Sounds like a plan.
Click to expand...


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John, I'll be doing the very same thing soon with my disc conversion bits... They're on my bench right now, probably call Eric next week.
 
Trevor Jessie said:
King pins should be replaced anyway, throw them away.
Click to expand...

Yep! I'm good to go. I was just worried I had damaged my core. In a week or two, I hope to box it all up and send it to Riverside. Eric said, it should come back rebuilt and ready to bolt up.

Now that plan is in place, I start working on my brake plan. I blasted my calipers yesterday and ordered a rebuild kit and new pistons all round. I also talked to Sierra about rebuilding my MC.
 
Just got my MC back from Sierra. Resleeved to 3/4, looks great, hope to install soon but I still have rear cylinder work to do.
 
I sent off my swivel axle/kingpin/a-arm for a reconditioned set. Never touched the threaded fulcrum pins-I had enough trouble using a sawzall through the inner a-arm bushings! Total was $475 for both sides.
 
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