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Wishbone [ A-Arm] Installion

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Reaming the king pin bushings. There is a stepped reamer that is made for the job. A machine shop could do the job without the stepped reamer, but it would require more time/effort/money. And it could still be botched. I had Peter do the last set for me. I assume that he used a stepped reamer do it.
 
About $280.

They might have it. It only takes a phone call.
 
Yes, that is the cost of the tool. I do not remember what Peter charged me. I bought a front suspension rebuild kit from him at the same time.
 
As Trevor says, take a specal reaming tool that does both top and bottom at the same time and they are different sizes.
 
So... I think Donn makes a fine point... but I think there is a bigger issue of economy. Considering the expense of having the bushes reamed versus just putting new king pins in an otherwise fine set of bushings makes it hard to justify. So your king pins only last 15 years instead of 30. Your fulcrum pins will still probably fail long before your king pins do. And once that happens, your king pins are pretty much trash anyway.

Also, though I will be the first to admit that Donn is waaay smarter and more experienced than I, I disagree with his reasoning. If it were dirt or other abrassives wrecking the king pins, why would the soft brass bushes remain intact while the hardened steel king pins get wrecked. I think the real culprit is moisture. My old king pins where rusty in the places where they had broken down.

On a side note, we should start a tool pool for things like the reamer. It's really bad economy to buy a $280 tool that you are only likely to use once... but if we pooled our money and bought one... then appointed an upstanding forum member to be it's steward... then set up a program where you Pay Pal the steward the amount of the tool and get your money back when you return it... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
I have one of those reamers (for the disk brake set-up only, drum brake sizes are different) that I would be happy to LOAN to anyone who will be careful with it and return it.
Bill
 
So i'm confused when you by the new Kingpins do they come with the New a brass bushing in them already? where is this brass bushing located. is there a way i canget way with out reaming anything. i'm confused. I have never ripped into a front end so i have no idea what i am doing. i'm sure it will look better to me after i start ripping into it
 
The swivel(stub) axle pivots on the vertical kingpin. The bushings are inside of the swivel(stub) axle. The kingpin almost always needs to be replaced. Often the kingpin is fused(rusted) to the lower fulcrum pin (located at the outer edge of the a-arm). Some people reuse the old bushings if there is little to no wear evident (usually determined by fitting a new kingpin). Recently Donn mentioned that this might not be a good idea because old dirty bushings may cause a new kingpin to wear out faster. Clear as mud?
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45 is the stub axle and the bushings 16 and 17 are pressed into it. 12 is the lower fulcrum pin.
 
Oh, and 4 is the kingpin
 
Yes it clear to me now i actually looked at it nice and hard today. the new 75 is now in my yard. it was taking residence at a buddy house for a couple days. but it now here and i understand more how it works. sound like it going to be a fun job.
 
Speaking of wishbone installation, what do you guys think about the poly bushings? I'm getting ready to install my refurbed wishbone/swivel axles and am thinking of going with the poly instead of the rubber ones. The old rubber ones had welded to the fulcrum pin that I had to saw through with the sawzall.
 
You know when i use to sell VW Parts i would always Seel the Poly bushing over the Rubber. there alot stiffer but they last.
 
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