Bushes - Reaming King Pins & rear springs

[GK5268]

You need to ream the bushes after they are pressed in, as was said above, they will deform slightly.

I took the plunge & bought the special reamer for the stub axles, it gives excellent results, and well-worth the money. Even if you use it only twice, (each side) you could always sell it on, think how much you would have to pay someone to do it for you, or accept something that is not quite right by making do with an ordinary 1/2" reamer, I did pay someone to fit new bushes in my front stub axles, but they clearly didn't have the correct reamer as after only a few hundred miles there was excess play, so I have now done them myself, I have a second car, so will get used for that and I look after my Uncle's as well, so I thought it a good investment.

The Girling pins are about 89mm long, so the ones you have are the Girling type (detachable back plates). The fillers to the top & bottom are just core plugs, same as that used on the head, the brass threaded ones (electrical fittings!) are for the longer earlier type.

When fitting the new bushes into the stub axle, make sure they are the correct way around, flanged top is the lower bush and align the cut-out in the top bush with the grease nipple. The hardened thrust washer fits between the flanged top and the axle eye (bottom) and just a packing washer to take up any slack, no vertical movement and the stub axle must rotate freely (otherwise the steering will be affected).

Thank you for that info...the car has Morris Minor Hydraulics, so Girling stub axles would make sense. At least the lead melted on top of the king pin kept the muck out of the top...better than the whittled wooden core  "plug" in the head!
What lubricates the upper bush, the cut out from the nipple only seems to look after the lower bush!
I will take the stub axles, bushes & (hang the expense!) new  king pins into the tool-room where they are used to operating in microns (whatever they are...I do know really!)

The grease nipple should be up the top and the grease passes into the top bush and then goes down inside the king pin to lubricate the bottom bush, the grease should ooze out between the axle on each side, that way you know it is all lubricated! On the car, these only fit one way, off the car, they can be on wrong as they will fit, but nothing else will!