John
The addition of shims, as I see it, will make my problem worse, not better.
There should be one thick "thrust washer" (brass-type material) between the
trunnion and the swivel axle. The thin shims fit on the top "shoulder" of
the kingpin, just at the base of the threads. The trunnion fits on the very
top of the kingpin, it's actually recessed on the underside, the shims fit
in this recessed area. Adding shims raise the clearance where the thrust
washer fits, reducing shims lowers the clearance. I have NO shims and too
much clearance. As I see it I have 3 choices. Easiest by far would be to
find a thicker thrust washer, I don't know if such an animal exists though.
I don't think adding a special shim to take up the clearance would be
desireable, may not last too well and would wear out more than likely. Maybe
2 thrust washers could be shaved down so I end up with a result slightly
thicker than 1 normal thrust washer. But before I would do that, my other 2
options would be to have a machine shop make this smaller bore in the bottom
of the trunnion a little deeper, this would reduce clearance, I could then
also use the regular adjustment shims to fine tune the clearance, OR I could
have the top shoulder of the kingpin machined a little lower, this should
have the same affect as the previously mentioned method.
Thanks for the reply though, BTW who/what is Mcmaster Carr?
----- Original Message -----
From "John D'Agostino" <john.dagostino at comcast.net>
To: "Dan Gillitzer" <dang@ticon.net>; <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: Reviewing Kingpin clearance issue
> Hi.
> I had a similar problem with my car, it was missing a thrust washer. I
> bought several thrust washers from Mcmaster Carr and found one that
> was about the same size as the original. I made some shims of various
> thickness from stainless steel shim stock. Just punch them out with one of
> those gasket punches and trim with sissors.
> Good as new.
>
> J
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dan Gillitzer" <dang@ticon.net>
> To: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 8:27 PM
> Subject: Reviewing Kingpin clearance issue
>
>
> > OK, I've thought about this problem a bit.
> > The trunnion piece (cast iron part on top, just under the castle nut) is
> > secured to the very top of the kingpin. It's position is "fixed" but can
> be
> > modified with the shims to increase or reduce the vertical play in the
> kingpin
> > relative to the steering knuckle. It would seem that the ONLY other
factor
> in
> > a completed assembly would be the thickness to the bronze/Oilite thrust
> > washer. The thicker the thrust washer, the less clearance there is, so
if
> I am
> > loose, with no thrust washers, the only option would be a thicker thrust
> > washer (or hope the swivel axle grows in a vertical direction or the
> kingpin
> > shrinks). If they were extremely rare, I suppose the area of the kingpin
> shaft
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