TO : Michael Chaffee
Subject: Fun with Midget!
> safety problems) my 74 Midget (Harvey), told me it looked like my
> kingpins were worn and wasn't it nice that I'd have a winter project?
It is almost certainly the king-pins - unless you are in the habit of
lubricating
the king-pins every 3-4 weeks, then they tend to wear out very quickly.
I replace my king-pins about every 18 months (but I drive hard, usually
off-road,
and put about 15000 miles on the car every year).
If you have never done this before, it will turn out to be a major headache,
mainly because you have to separate the a-arm form the bottom of the king-pin,
by
removing the fulcrum pin. This pin tends to seize solid 3 minutes after you
have
installed it (!!!). Get a propane torch and planty of Liquid Wrench.
Once you have everything apart, you can send the a-arms out to be rebuilt,
order the new king-pins and have the stub axles reamed/rebushed.
While you have everything apart, you may as well replace the inner-arm bushings,
and the upper bushings.
>Also, whether it's the wheel bearings or the kingpins, I think a wheel
>bearing renewal might be a good idea. Has anyone used the tapered
>bearings that Winners Circle sells? Do they appear to hold up under
>duress?
Wheel-bearing replacement is simple and straight forward. I have been using the
taper roller bearing from Winner's Circle for years with no problems. BTW the
bearings are made by Timken - try a local bearing supplier
Gerry
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