King Pin shims + eccentric bearing races

[DaveHDJ80]

Hi,

Currently working on swivel hubs on 80 series.

Have pulled out king pin races and they were worn in almost an oval shape. Showed them to an old mechanic and he said they had been made like that and were formed in an eccentric manner to adjust camber.

The king pins had no shim on bottom, and only one thin one on top. WHen I assembly and torque up bolts with new bearings, the hub is quite tight. I can still turn it, bit it is firm. havent put a guage on it as i dont have one.

I live in cloncurry and its very hard to get parts and help.

should i try shimming the bottom one a little first and see how that goes?

Ive only done one side so far and hoped only to do that side as it was leaking.

Im wondering whether my vehicle has the original shims (or lack there of), or whether those shims were to suit the weird bearing set up. I cant really remember what it was like before i undid it.

[stilivn]

They would be tight due to the bearing not being completely seated. But be carefull. Have a look at photo on my thread 'clicking front end full lock' you are meant to use a special tool to seat properly, i didnt have it.

[BJMorgo]

Assuming your bearings are seated correctly, using the original shims works OK - you could add an extra shim which will make it looser but it should be reasonably tight, but smooth with no play. Check the manual to estimate the force - I could never find where to buy a spring tension gauge - all I got was blank looks from people at auto shops when I asked. Maybe a specialist engineering tools shop or even a fishing shop (for weighing fish). Or just "guestimate" it.

The offset bearings break easily too - someone put a camber correction kit in mine and the top bearing broke quite quickly. Put new normal bearings and races in.

Cheers

[BJMorgo]

PS - sometimes people take out shims as an easy fix to tighten up a loose/worn bearing to pass rego, so they may not be original.

[DaveHDJ80]

Thanks.

I am confident the bearings are seated properly.

The bottom kingpin looks like it has been shimmed in the past. I reckon its just been lost or forgotten to put back on.

The offset bearing races - yes one is cracked thourgh the thin side. I have replaced with standard bearings.

I might try a thin shim on the bottom and see how I go.

Someone has left the claw washer/thrust washer off the outer wheel bearing cone, so im not suprised they have left a shim off.

As a guide, what is the max/min shims people have seen??

[RAY185]

Buy some fish scales, they are under $20 at Kmart. I usually aim to have an even amount of shims top and bottom and aim for about 8-10lb of pulling force on the steering arm before it starts to move. More shims make it easier to pull, less shims make it harder to pull.

[DaveHDJ80]

I put a 0.2mm shim on the bottom and it came up nicely. Nice a smooth with some steady drag.

[RAY185]

Awesome, so the only thing left to do is to grab some cheap scales and see if it's to spec before you put it all back together.

This would do the job.

http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/prod ... escription" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DaveHDJ80]

Thanks for the help.

I should add - the shims a mechanic gave me were slightly different for the bottom (I have an 80 series). The stud pattern of the four bolts was broader/longer.

I had no other way of getting shims out here, so I trimmed the corners.


I rang sci fleet in Brisbane this morning and they have no listing for bottom shims on an 80 series. Top shims only.

Has anyone else run into this issue?

I'll put the scales on it after i buy some on the weekend - thanks for the tip with BCF. but it feels pretty good. I wouldnt think a 0.2mm shim would be too much of an issue.

My workshop manual told me that they have shims top and bottom.