Fleet Maintenance - 32

Kingpin kits and
installation procedures

Lubrication and inspection intervals
Severity

Typical Vocations

Typical

Inspection

Lubrication Interval2

After establishing the roundness of the
of Service
Operation
Interval1
bore, it is time to install a new kingpin kit.
Conditions
The first step in the installation process will
Each oil change or Kingpin
Light
On-highway or turn- High mileage
100,000 miles
be selecting the appropriate kingpin kit.
maximum 50,000 Bushing/ Tie (161 000 km)
pike, linehaul only
operation, more
"The technician should reassemble the
miles (80 500 km) Rod End3
than 50,000
steer axle kingpin by using a kit that has
miles/year (80
500 km/year)
all of the components included, such as
Spicer genuine kits that meet OE specifica95% on-highway/
tions," says Dana Aftermarket's Donnelly.
turnpike surface
"They've been designed, developed, and
Medium
Fire and rescue, city Lower mileage
20,000 miles
Kingpin
40,000 miles
manufactured to work together so techdelivery,
inner
city
operation,
less
(32
000
km)
Bushing/Tie
(64 000 km)
nicians can be confident they are installcoach, heavy haul,
than 50,000
Rod End3
ing the same quality components as when
school bus, motor
miles/year (80
the truck was new. Also, it is important
home, transit coach
500 km/year)
to replace all of the wear items at once,
Kingpin
10,000 miles
Harsh
Logging, oil field,
Low mileage oper- 10,000 miles
including the bushings, seals, shim pack,
(16 100 km)
Bushing/
(16 100 km)
construction, heavy
ation, less than
thrust bearings, and kingpins."
Tie Rod End
haul, yard tractor
25,000 miles/year
Determining the correct kingpin kit to
(highway licensed),
(40 250 km/year
install on the vehicle, especially if it is the
residential refuse
vehicle's first steer axle kingpin replaceHeavy duty service
with substantial
ment, may require a bit of research. Meritor
off-road operation
offers the Xact Search feature, specifically
for kingpin kits, on the MeritorPartsXpress.
Severe
Mining, yard tracHeavy-duty service 5,000 miles
Kingpin
5,000 miles
tor (non-highway
(8050 km) or
Bushing/
(8050 km) or
com platform to help mitigate mismatch
licensed),
and
100
hours
Tie
Rod
End
100 hours
kit-to-axle dilemmas.
land
fill
refuse
"All you need to know is the make,
Very
Mining, logging
Severe duty
48ghours
Kingpin
48 hours
model, and year of the vehicle you're
Severe
and
construction
80-100%
off
Bushing/
working on and it will give you the
highway
Tie Rod End
kingpin kit for your application," says
1
Draw key nuts should be retightened at 6,000 miles (9,656 km) and
Meritor's Stockwell. "Not only that, but
then again every 36,000 miles (57,936 km) thereafter.
it will give you different bushing options.
2
If power washers are used during vehicle cleaning operations, lubrication intervals need to
So you can choose a ream kit if you have
be adjusted. Frequent power-washed vehicles will require more frequent lubrication.
that technical capability, you can choose
3
Tie rod ends with an anti-tilt style seal require lubrication every 10,000 miles (16,100 km).
a pre-sized bushing if you want that solid
Table courtesy of Meritor
fit without having to ream, or you can
choose a spiral bushing if you just want
a quick, easy job. We also have, in our catalog
search on MeritorPartsXpress.com, [the ability
where] you can drill down by kingpin length,
diameter, the bushing type you're looking for,
[or] if you know the axle make but maybe not the
IMPROPER KINGPIN INSTALLATION IMPROPER REAMING
model. You can drill down by all those different
attributes to get to the right kingpin kit that
way as well."
STEMCO's support team is available to assist
customers in identifying the kingpin kit that they
will need, says Ayala.
Installing the appropriate steer axle kingpin kit
will vary from vehicle to vehicle, but there are
universal aspects to installation that should be
considered. It is recommended to follow the axle
manufacturer's installation procedures. Typically,
installation will begin by installing the bushings
into the bore.
Photos courtesy of Dana Aftermarket
The equipment needed to install a bushing
General description: Damaged bushing material, areas of bushing material bunched up or missing, or
depends on the type of bushing being installed.
gouges in bushing material.
Bushing drivers are commonplace. If using a spiral
bushing, installation can be done by hand with
Usual causes:
the use of needle nose pliers. Traditional, ream* Improper kingpin installation
type bushings will need to be reamed accordingly
* Improper tools used to size bushings (if using reamable bushings)
prior to install.
Failure prevention:
"Reaming requires specialty equipment as well
* Use recommended reaming tools, see Spicer Service Manual AXSM-0038 (if using reamable bushings)
as a very high technical capability," Stockwell
* Follow assembly procedures found in the Spicer Service Manual AXSM-0038
says. "It's [a] very precise process as you don't want
to take out too much material because you want
a tight fit in between the pin and the bushing ...

Bushing damage during installation

32 Fleet Maintenance | May 2020

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Fleet Maintenance

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