Greetings, Have installed the dropped axle on my 53 3100 and now notice play in the spindles. I thought they were pretty snug when put together. But while talking to a friend who works for F**d, he said thier bushings were pressed in. AS stated before the bushings slid in the spindle but felt like it was a good fit with no excessive play. A little play at that point is much exagerated at the tread of the tire when moved, however. Any suggestions before I tear her down again. I think oversized bushings are availiable if needed?? Thanks, rick
Hi there. as you might guess im from england. just a question rather than an answer to yours, where did you get the dropped axle from, and apart from the play in your bushings were ther any other problems with fitting it, really would like to drop my 50' 3100 1/2 ton but dont want to go down the front clip route, with your problem is the play in the spindle bushings or is it the pin moving in the axle, mabey a new set of standard bushings will sort it, he may have made the earth and heavens in 7 days but it must have taken a little longer to make my truck! ________ Gang bang gothic
Greetings back to you, The axle came from Classic Performance Parts and went on fairly easy. Make sure you get thier kingpins as the shank of the axle is bout 1/4 inch thinner and you need a spacer to fill the gap. And you will need a new tie rod if you can not reverse your old one. It will not mount correctly in the stock position...spring clearance problems. Be prepared for some "bounce steer" as there is now some geometric changes re steering arm and pitman arm. I got a new drag link (had a bad end), cut it and reversed one end to allow mounting under vs over the steering arm. Took care of that. Cant tell exactly where the play is, looks like lower part of spindle, but only when grasping and wiggling the wheels with hands at 3 and 9 o'clock. Vertical (6 and 12 o'clock) seems tight. Was curious bout the fit issue but will find more when I get it tore down. Thanks for the reply and hope this helps. rick :7
Hi rick, play in your steering rather than in king pins. if you can only feel it when hands are on the wheel at 3& 9 o clock, if it was the pins it would show at 12 & 6, sounds like a steering box or ball joint problem to me, any chance of some pics of the axe installed, would really appreciate it. he may have made the earth and heavens in 7 days but it must have taken a little longer to make my truck! ________ NEW ZEALAND
Hi again, Yes I agree but it looked at the time the movement was only in the lower part of the spindle, hard to describe but just did not look kosher. The passenger side seemed worse. I may have mixed up the bushings between the two sets when installing. And yes the kingpin is secured with the bolt thru the axle, answering your first question. Will sort it out I guess when we tear down. Was curious bout the fitment of the bushings tho so as to get oversized if needed to press them in. Sorry do not have the equipment for pictures or the smarts to operate if we had it. Thanks again for the reply, rick
IIRC the bushings are ' floating ' typ but do fit very snugly . Is there wobble on the king pin ? or just up & down float ? there should be some shims on the bottom of the spindle to take up the slack . I've seen where folks put them on the top & then they wear out fast , allowing the spindle to much up & down freeplay , not a good thing . -Nate
Hi Nate, I was hoping for a reply from the resident Guru. Many thanks. Yes I got the shims in the correct place and there is no play up and down. I put it on a jack and removed the wheel and can not seem to detect any play. But these eyes arent as young as they were when issued. The truck drives straight with no wobble or wander. If we can see no obvious problem, back together it goes and we are "On the Road Again". Never go too fast anyway but the first line of this paragraph applied at low and bout 60 mph. Thanks guys and if it turns out to be problamatic will post. rick (Perhaps sometimes we create problems where there relly never were, Just a thought, Perfection does have a price) :7
O.K. , sounds good to me . Remember : lack of the Caster shims will induce shimmy . You only need about 1/32" of toe - in . Camber is set by bending the front axle , only a select few shops can still do this typ of work and unless you're getting wier tire wear problems , the Camber is prolly O.K. . Be sure to properly center the steering box before re-installing the tie rods and never , _EVER_ trust the steering wheel to indicate straight ahead position ! . ZERO play in the front wheel bearings ! I see WAY too many with wobbly wheels . I'm going out sick (operation) in a few days , will likely be offline for a week or two , see ya all later . -Nate
Hi Nate, Yes I remembered the shims so no prob there. Funny thing is there is no shimmy, wobble and it seems to track good. Will keep looking there does seem to be a little play on the lower end. I have to find a sourse for the little round dust covers that are tapped into the spindle covering the ends of the king pins. The local FLAPS guys eyes glaze over when I try to tell them what I'm looking for and buying a new set of king pins is a bit expensive just for them. Thanks Nate, and good luck on the Doctor visit. CU rick
When i assembled my axle the bushings just pushed in by hand, im slightly concerned but hoping the grease will take up the tiny tiny bit of movement i have in the pins. i think its actually the bushings moving in the spindles not pins moving in the bushings, but as i said its hardly noticable un-greased. Mad dog and englishman! ________ ANAL SEX
IIRC they're the " floating " typ of bushing so this is correct ~ it'll detail this in your factory shop manual ~ for under $30.00 I _KNOW_ you all bought a new one , correct ? READ the darned thing and get it dog eared & greasy ~ that's what it's made for ! . The little caps are called.....oh fooey , I forget but they just like old style " cup typ " freeze plugs so ask the guys @ FLAPS if you can look in thier cup plug drawer , failing that , look up Dorman Products on the Internet and get the part # there , you may have to buy a $5.00 box of 10 to get two... brass ones are a nice touch . These are VERY important as they keep road grime & grit out . To install you simply lay them in place and give a good WHACK with a large hammer , in the dead center , this flattens them out and the expanded edge jambs in the lip , holding it in place . -Nate
