Technical ford kingpin reamer

@gdrummer , where are you located? I have a reamer and while I have only done a couple spindles, if you are close, we could knock this out quickly.

 

Why hasn't anybody asked about the axle pin fit?

 

once again, thanks for all the replies and trove of great info. that's why the HAMB is so great.
i will be returning the needle bearing set, ordering a std set and keeping my eyes out for a reamer. if anyone out there has one for sale, please reach out. there is a swap meet in tucson on 11/1 i'll be looking for one there. if i find one, i'll pick it up if not, i'll be bringing them to my local machine shop.
cheers!

 

Pretty sure I did, and got some good experienced reply’s.
The guy in the video said .001to .0015 fit as well.
Or are you referring to something else?

 

Look for .814. The short one in the picture is the most common version to find. The longer one is more uncommon; but a better design. Both work OK.

Most I come across are good; either unused or maybe used once or twice.

 

i've used a brake hone on flathead lifter bores, and once asked the young mechanics at work if they reamed kingpin bushings that way: (crickets chirping).
i bought a ford reamer set from j.c. whitney decades ago, but it wasn't very satisfactory!

 

I found mine on ebay. They weren't expensive, but there was some luck involved.
The longer type acts like a pilot to keep the 2 bushings in line. If you're doing it by hand, with the spindle clamped in a vise, that's the only type i would buy.
I do have a short .814 reamer that i'll use after, just to clean them up.

 

That’s the only way to do kingpins for accuracy and reliability.

 

^^^^^^ What @linechaser32 says

Back when I did kingpin jobs at the rate of 2-3 a week, I researched reaming versus honing.
The results were the reaming would leave little peaks and valleys on the surface of the bushing, where the honing gave a uniform surface finish. The downside was that once the peaks wore down, the pin/bushing clearance increased and the wear rate went up.
FWIW, this was on big trucks in a quest to extend steer tire life to 100K miles, but the principle is the same. Sort of like blueprinting, or is close enough good enough? You decide.