King Pin

[TNCEMT]

I've recently just bought a 1975 F150 Ranger XLT, 460 automatic 2WD. I'm curious if I can put in a king pin with brass bushings if my truck had nylon bushings without much machining. My bushings are gone completly out of the right side of the truck, so I'm assuming that they were of the nylon type. Hope I'm not the only one who has encountered this problem. I also have full intent on redoing the whole front suspension. Coil springs, stop bumpers, radius arm bushings, shocks, draglink bushings, etc. PLEASE HELP...thanks fellas

 

[BlackFord77]

As far as I know I don't see any reason why you couldn''t take the nylon out and put in brass bushings but it may take a little machining and make sure you have good grease fittings before you finish. Also- if you're taking it apart you must replace the radius arm bushings (and washers if they're rusted). It will give you lots of years of hassle free driving with new ones and lets face it- who has the time to tear into a job this big more than once? So in all you can usually expect more service from fresher parts that are proper (especially watch bolt gradings). There are some places that deal special in suspension fasteners- don't be fooled with standard Grade 5 or 8 bolts. A heavy grade 5 bolt can snap like a potato chip under your foot when over exerted. New fasteners can be something of a lesson to learn how to select properly. Keep in mind these things when shopping for new bolts- 1. Grade (hardness and tensile strength) 2. Total length 3. Length of thread set (threaded part) 4. Length of shank (unthreaded part NOT including head or thread set) 5. Thread pitch 6. Head type (6-point, 12-point, Allen-head, torx head, etc.) Keep in mind your priority though- how much are you planning to spend? - or else you can easily build yourself a way pricey (although tough and durable) driving machine.