Daniel, and others,
Here's a trick learned from a "real' mechanic who used to work for
me, and is no longer with us.
I was doing some front end work on my car and to my surprise I
needed new king pins and bushings.I too was facing the expense of the
reaming tool. He jumped in and showed me a trick that has applications
beyond just king pins.
After removing and installing the bushes using sockets, etc. we
took one of the old king pins and with a cut-off wheel, cut about 6 flutes
per bushing surface. We sharpened them as best we could with the wheel. We
used this to ream the bushings and it worked beautifully, and why wouldn't
it. The diameter is correct if not slightly undersized so you may need to
hone the hole slightly, we didn't need to. It is already "piloted". It has
a handy hole for inserting a rod for twisting leverage. I now have the
official tool for this, but the results are not significantly better.
I've applied this technique to some other similar situations
since, and it works. Give it a try.
Also, to install the bushings more easily, freeze the bush and
heat the hole.
Good luck, Peter C.
At 01:37 PM 3/17/2001, Daniel1312@aol.com wrote:
>Hi list,
>
>I am about to start a job I haven't done before and wondered if there are any
>handy tips to follow.
>
>I am about to fit a new king pin to a stub axle (a job most of us have done
>before) but with a difference in that I have stumped up the vast amount of
>money required for a stepped reamer so that I can ream the bushes myself (the
>payback on the tool is either a lot of sprites or about 300 years of
>motoring).
///
/// (If they are dupes, this trailer may also catch them.)
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