King pins

[k. rogers]

When I previously greased the king pins on the Weasel the old grease would exude from either end of the pins, but recently I've noticed that isn't happening. I've checked and cleaned the nipples and they seem to be working fine and the pins are tight yet free in the bushes, so no concerns there, but I like to think the grease is being properly replenished which, at present, I don't think it is! If it is simply that the grease at each end of the pins has turned cruddy with road dirt (I do use the car quite alot for an old 'un!), what is the best way to clean it out or are there any other suggestions out there?

[Forumadmin]

The best way is to dismantle and regrease; checking that the nipple and grease drilling are open.

[Tony Fearn]

Hi Ken.

1. Do you have the original nipples on the stub axles?

2. If so, I presume you've unscrewed them and made sure grease goes though them when off the car.

3. When the nipples are off, make sure that there is no hardened grease in the bore of the nipple thread in the stud axle by riddling it with a small
screwdriver, and perhaps give the hole a blast of WD40 or a bit of petrol to soften any hardened grease and riddle it again, finally covering the screwdriver end with a cotton cloth to get all the gunk out.

4. You should be able to see if the brass bearing has turned and if the hole in it for the grease to penetrate is no longer in line with the nipple.

5. You will be using the original pattern grease gun. Make sure that all the air is out of the gun by filling it with grease and pressing the cork down with your finger whilst working the other end on the bench. Sometimes an air pocket in the gun stops the grease from coming out of the nosepiece.

6. Make sure the gun end is directly in line with the nipple when pumping the gun. The wheel/stub axle should be moved so this can be done.

7. If this doesn't work, then perhaps change the nipples to the more modern type which can accept one of the modern grease guns. There's a heck of a lot of pressure available in latter if they're clipped on properly. You'll probably be able to get this type of nipple with the old BSF (or whatever) thread from the Classic Car suppliers.

8. If all the above fails, then you'll just have to do what Forumadmin suggests, so book a couple of days off work!!

9. Here's hoping you won't have to resort to this.

Best wishes,

Tony.

P.S. I know you'll have thought of all these things, but I just thought I'd write them down for posterity. A.J.

P.P.S. I'll bet George knows a few more tricks!

[george garside]

for what its worth I used to pump light engine oil (or flushing oil) through the kingpins twice a year (when using car daily) to shift any shit using a rompom type of pressure greese gun. This was then followed by re-greasing in the normal way & then routine fortnightly geasing. It also worked well on Javelins.

[k. rogers]

Thank you Keith, Tony and George for the pointers - I will investigate further and let you know via the forum my findings. The grease nipples are the modern variety and are functioning ok, but I will check that the bushes are lined up properly as you suggested, Tony, although I feel it may just be down to crud - would steam cleaning help this, I wonder?

[george garside]

provided the bushes havn 't spun round it may be worth pumping either light engine oil or a mixture of parafin & engine oil and leaving it for a day or two to penetrate. Important to do it with wheels off ground & with freqent turning from lock to lock to help work the oil through.

george

[Keith Andrews]

The grease nipples are the modern variety

Every good tool box has 1/2 doz nipples , straight, 45 deg and 90 deg rolling around in the bottom...

[k. rogers]

I can now report that everything appears to be ok again - the holes of the bushes were lined up with the nipples and the nipples are allowing the grease to be pumped in as they should. However, I am not convinced that the grease gun is totally compatible with the nipples! Although it seems to work fine on all the other nipples on the car, I wonder whether it fails on the king pin ones because of the extra pressure you appear to need to replenish the grease adequately, resulting in an excess of grease squeezing around the nipple itself. I use one of those guns with a flexible end to make it easier for those less accessible nipples, but I do have to use a certain amount of force to keep it connected while pumping the grease. I will look further into the problem, but at least everything is greased up in the meantime!

[Tony Fearn]

Good to hear it Ken.

Perhaps Mrs. Ken (aka Mandy) or a near neighbour might just want to lie under the car on the oily garage floor and hold the flexible end of the gun squarely on to the nipple.

It's difficult with such a set-up to hold the gun, squeeze the trigger and keep the end on the nipple when you've only got two hands.

Tony

[Keith Andrews]

Thats wher the lefy over gease nipple in the tool box come from....One day one gets anoid at some being a bit arkward..
So buy a good handfull all that different angles...
The gease time comes along and instead of spending time cursing about not getting a square shot at it.....change to a nipple at gives you a square shot...and a few spares left the tool box for when you want the work hard at being lazy again

[k. rogers]

Somebody told me to grease the king pins under load, not with the wheels off the ground, and guess what?!! It works - I now have grease squeezing out either end as I always have in the past. Perhaps I didn't bother to jack it up before so the problem didn't present itself. I can only assume that the pin somehow changes its position and becomes tight in the bush when the wheel is suspended making it difficult for the grease to enter. I'm sure those better qualified will be able to comment on this, in the meantime I'm more than happy!

[AlanBartlett]

Rather than start a new topic, I thought I would add to this one. It has a been a while.

On servicing and inspection of the lady this evening I decided to have a check of the king pins, which I found to be quite a lot of play, rocking the wheel from top and bottom. You can see the stub axle moving quite a bit, Pushing grease in, is soon pushed out by the movement of the wheel. I've also noticed that on one side, the whole stub axle seems to move up and down on the pin itself. I'm pretty sure this isn't right at all??!! What am I missing? Has anyone got a diagram of the various bushes and washers in the right places, I've looked in the parts book but its not that clear. I have another set to put in, but want to make sure I have all the pieces of the puzzle.

[Tony Fearn]

Has anyone got a diagram of the various bushes and washers in the right places

Alan,
I'll have a look at my new set and get back to you. I've a feeling that there are two types of thrust washers, one type having a slight convex side.

Have you given the cotter pins holding the king pin in the axle beam a mild clout with drift and hammer. If these are slack the wiggle will be exaggerated. Don't strip the thread on the cotter pins when you do up the little nuts.

Tony.

[Tony Fearn]

....one type having a slight convex side.

This from the Jowett Manual up to and including 1936 for 7hp vehicles:

"Worn stub axle pin bushes cause steering troubles and are definitely dangerous. They are a press fit in the axle jaws, and can be pressed or knocked out with a mandrel. On models after 1929, a hardened thrust washer with a spherical underside was fitted on top of the bottom bush. This was pinned to the axle itself and a dust cover was added to give protection from grit and water. The king pin itself rarely needs renewal, being case-hardened, but it should be a good sliding fit in the bushes. On models after 1929, there is a flat on the king pin which locates with the cotter pin holding it in position.See that this flat coincides with the cotter hole in the axle before drawing home the cotter itself."

Tony.

[AlanBartlett]

Hello Tony,

Thanks for the diagrams, the ones I took off were of the convex type bottom bush, with a convex washer running above it and a steel cover/cap over the top of that.

The new set were flat bushes with a flat washer, which I have fitted, which fitted well and have taken up all the play that was in the king pin, my only concern now is that I have fitted the washer ( looking at your diagram in the wrong place) Having fitted it to the bottom instead of the top of the stub axle.