I stumbled upon this by accident. Great video. I've always been interested in this stuff, even if I have never done this kind of work myself and even if I'll never own a vehicle that requires me to know about such things. In my quest to understand these things, though, I've come to appreciate those old-fashioned closed knuckles because of exactly what you illustrate here. Every bit of disassembly and re-assembly can be done using ordinary tools that everybody owns. In contrast, the "newer" style (dating back to the late '60s and early '70s, ha-ha) of axles with open knuckles and ball joints require special tools and massive amounts of brute force for disassembly. They are hell to take apart and are very finicky to get properly adjusted during re-assembly (for example, I learned that a whole generation of Dodge pickups were plagued with ball-joint failures while still almost new, because so many of them had the ball-joint adjustments improperly performed at the factory). And it's my understanding that after several years, the adjusting ring on the top ball joint almost always seizes into the top of the knuckle and can't be spun, and since there's very little gripping surface for the tool that turns it, this can ruin the whole knuckle. Modern open knuckles are faster to put together *the first time* using automated equipment in the factory, but nothing about the design is friendly to the truck's future owner. Everyone seems to think that these closed knuckles are more complicated than the new style, but actually they are as simple as can be. I appreciate this clip.
Thinking about the procedure I think you can. It’s only 4 bolts per pin then I’m pretty sure the would come right off. I would be more worried about if it should be done. There might be old practices that young builders like me don’t know.
@@stardog16 I should have been more specific, but I think I've found my answer since leaving the original comment, whether or not the king pin bearings/races/etc could be replaced without taking the entire axel apart and I think the answer to that is no.
I stumbled upon this by accident. Great video. I've always been interested in this stuff, even if I have never done this kind of work myself and even if I'll never own a vehicle that requires me to know about such things. In my quest to understand these things, though, I've come to appreciate those old-fashioned closed knuckles because of exactly what you illustrate here. Every bit of disassembly and re-assembly can be done using ordinary tools that everybody owns. In contrast, the "newer" style (dating back to the late '60s and early '70s, ha-ha) of axles with open knuckles and ball joints require special tools and massive amounts of brute force for disassembly. They are hell to take apart and are very finicky to get properly adjusted during re-assembly (for example, I learned that a whole generation of Dodge pickups were plagued with ball-joint failures while still almost new, because so many of them had the ball-joint adjustments improperly performed at the factory). And it's my understanding that after several years, the adjusting ring on the top ball joint almost always seizes into the top of the knuckle and can't be spun, and since there's very little gripping surface for the tool that turns it, this can ruin the whole knuckle. Modern open knuckles are faster to put together *the first time* using automated equipment in the factory, but nothing about the design is friendly to the truck's future owner. Everyone seems to think that these closed knuckles are more complicated than the new style, but actually they are as simple as can be. I appreciate this clip.
Thank you for the great comment!
The more time passes the more i appreciate simplicity in design.
Nice and slow on each step we’ll done. Thanks
Hello Amigo! Thanks for the encouraging words! Have fun out there!
Good video. Where are you sourcing your parts?
Various places. Mostly internet though. At times I will find a part locally to the Greater Las Vegas area.
Can the king pins be replaced without taking everything apart?
Thinking about the procedure I think you can. It’s only 4 bolts per pin then I’m pretty sure the would come right off.
I would be more worried about if it should be done. There might be old practices that young builders like me don’t know.
@@stardog16 I should have been more specific, but I think I've found my answer since leaving the original comment, whether or not the king pin bearings/races/etc could be replaced without taking the entire axel apart and I think the answer to that is no.