Note: This is a bit long and may not be of interest to most of you. Your call.
Otrex,
The manual show and describes changing the king pin while on the car.
The advantage of that is that you don't have to remove the upper and lower pivot pins.
The disadvantage is that removal of the upper and lower pins makes the spindle and support come off as a unit and easier to work on in that you can secure the carrier in a large, well supported vise.
Further disadvantage is that reinstalling the upper and lower pins can be a tad annoying at times. You may need a C-clamp in order to index (align threads) the lower pivot pin. The manual shows how to do this and the C-clamp usually needs to be applied just a tad the index the threads. If the yoke gap moves outward when the bolt meets the other side, then you need the C-clamp. This is not hard to do.
The upper pivot pin is a tad more annoying. It is fed through before the end bushings are installed and is off-set for camber adjustment. A jack will be needed for getting the pin in. Afterwards just eyeball the rear bushing and screw it in tight. The front bushing I threaded only on the inside. It will give you no problems. The two bolts will hold the support pin and front bushing in place. Make sure that all the camber threads on the upper pin are hidden by the the support. Generally that centering will result/make the camber within specks. Usually.
Follow the manual on taking the kingpin out and in just as Gene advised. The kingpin is driven out of the spindle by using a punch and hammer.*
Make sure the king pin is aligned for the keeper to lock it in place, Also the the bushing are aligned so the the grease fitting will feed directly into the bushing.
If it were mine I would take the spindle and support out.
* Removal of the king pin means you have to remove the upper and lower plugs and locks. Generally you have to sacrifice the expanding plugs. Misalignment of the lock pin can be remidied by using a long tapered punch and hammer.
This is not an easy job. Having a buddy to help makes the job a heap easier. Make sure the support bearing is in the right place and the spindle to support are not reversed. Recently, I did that and had to take the whole mess back apart.
If you don't have a manual then get one. You will more than likely need it for this job.
Before you start after jacking up the car (using stout supports for it), have the buddy pull back and forth on the wheel on both sides and determine if there is any loose play in the upper and lower bushings.
You may not need new kingpins, just the bushings in that part of the job. It is much better to replace any bushing or pin that shows play.
Good luck with it. I just did it twice and loved every minute of it.
Best,
Charlie :computer
BTW: After marker replacement parts, such as MOOG, work just fine. Make sure you leave the upper front bushing with the 20-40 thousands gap so that the camber threads can turn. See manual.
BTW2: Let me and the others know if you need any further advice or parts. Ask on parts for sale. There was one member who answered my post in the "wanted" forum that had some parts but by the time I had already bound some on eBay. I feel bad about that.
BYW3: Before you order parts from a vender let the members that you are doing so. I didn't do that and thus the feeling bad/sorry about my error. We don't want our members taking time to look for parts for us only to find me don't need them owing to finding another source. Not well said but you get my drift.
