Help: need advice on removing king pin out of axles on MCI-9

[Christyhicks]

Ok, that sucker's just tough!  Seriousy, we can't get the darn kingpin out of the axle on our MCI-9.  It looks like the steering knuckle was slightly bent, as if maybe a previous driver hit a curb or something,  so Larry decided to go ahead and replace the knuckle, and all went pretty well until he tried to get the kingpin out. 

Larry has used a hammer, a larger hammer, a small sledge hammer, a large sledge hammer, a homemade press (it bent 1" thick stock ), heat  . . . and still, the kingpin is right where it started, snug as a bug. . .well, you get it.  

Anyone have any advice on getting that *#&^%(*&#^#  kingpin to budge without removing the entire axle?    Please. . .respond quick  . . this will bug him ALLLLLL weekend and he won't think about anything else (including his sweet wife  ) until he gets that thing out!  Christy hicks

[TommyT]

Did you remove the kingpin lock that goes thru the axle? It should have A 3/4(socket size)nut. remove nut and drive the lock out. If you have already done this then soak with GOOD penatrating oil. Then hammer,CUSS,hammer,CUSS,hammer,until something or somebody WINS!!! Also if you cut the handle shorter on a large sledge hammer it will be alot easier to use under the bus.

[wrench]

  On truck, I use to weld a 1" X 16-18" rod to a 1" X 12" X 12" plate & put the weight of the truck on the pin under the kingpin, with the truck jacked with the opposed side higher so the kingpin is vertical & is again the pin welded on that plate. Used a adjustable jack stand or block & leave a 2-3" clearance(this is to avoid the fall all the way down if the kingpin get loose). & then hammering the axel on the top of the curve near the kingpin will drive it out by the top. If sledge hammer don't work, a small air or electric breaker jack will(the one use to break rock/asphalt). Otherwise need to go out to a shop press as it become hazardous.
            wrench

[jjrbus]

I know someone with very respectable mechanicle skills and a well equippped shop. He does almost all his own work. When it came to the king pins he sent it out to a shop. Said it was money well spent!!

[Ross]

Heat the knuckle a little and tap it with a hammer.  It will come right out.  The "engineers" will tell you that you can't heat the knuckle, but thats the way the shop will deal with a stuck pin.  I heated the knuckle on the non stressed side and it popped right out with one hammer tap.

Ross

[Sammy]

I use heat also. I made a small screw type press that bolts to the top of the spindle, heat area a bit, crank down on screw, king pin pushes out. OTC makes a hydraulic king pin press, might try to borrow or rent one. Best of luck with your repair.
Sammy 

[Christyhicks]

Well, thanks to the guys who responded and to Gary LaBombard, who took the trouble to send us pics and advice. After days of hammering, pressing, lubricating, and heating the spindle several times, Larry finally re-inforced his home-made press with some 4" I-beam, 3/8" thick, clamped it onto the axle, using a 20 ton jack, and jacked her as tight as he could. Then he applied heat to the axle portion through which the spindle protruded, and boy, Gary wasn't kidding, when it popped, it popped loud. There really was no visible rust, it was just in there tight!

I'm convinced (as a amatuer), that it would not have come loose without heating the axle, as the 20 ton jack was not budging it. Larry did heat the spindle red hot a couple of times, as advised by another busnut.

No, there were no locks, pins, flats, etc., this was just a tapered spindle, and it needed to go down, not up, on an MCI-9. It was pretty obvious from the shape of the spindle and lack of any type of lock that it was just in there tight! Definitely, if you have to do this, the "have patience" admonition is a good one.

Thank GOODNESS that's over! Thanks again guys, Christy Hicks

[NJT5047]

Christy, did the bus drive funky?  Was there "play" in the kingpins? 
I've followed what you are doing...considered doing the same. But, my bus drives OK...not excellent, but it's not hard to keep in one lane. 
What year is "Big-Bus?"   
I've jacked up the bus and levered the front wheels, pulled the wheels and jacked on the drums (lightly) and cannot see any movement that would indicate worn kingpins.  I think my steering box is probably what I feel.  A couple adjustments have greatly improved the steering.  Major improvement. 
Still, replacing the kingpins is on my "long" list of things to do. 
Cheers, JR

[Christyhicks]

We drove the bus back from Orlando and it handled fine, but Larry had noticed extreme wear on the outside corner of the front tire, passenger side.  He lined up with it and it was pretty clear that the axle looked bent, as the tired was clearly leaning a bit.  One he got down in there, he discovered that the steering knuckle was just slightly bent, you really had to look at it to see, but we figure that someone may have hit a curb or something with it and put just enough bend in it to cause a problem.  The kingpin was fine, no slop, but it had to be removed to replace the knuckle.   

Since we will be putting brand new tires on it when we finish the conversion, we figured it was smart to repair the problem BEFORE we put those new tires on, ha ha.  I'm glad that we purchased the bus straight off the charter service and no one had changed those tires, or we may not have realized we had a problem until it did damage to a new tire!

Don't attempt removing that kingpin unless you have a 20 ton press. . .there is no way that heat and hammer would have removed it. . . just no way.  At least, it wouldn't have removed ours!  Larry wondered, at one point, whether he should have taken it in and had this done, but he also wondered how much it would have cost to have someone else do all that, and of course, now, that it's finally out, he's glad he did do it himself.  It was such a big sense of relief when that sucker finally popped. . . boy, we're just glad it's over!  Christy