Kingpin Removal

[Albert]

Hello All,
I've stripped the complete front suspension ready for blasting.
One thing to go:
How do I remove the Kingpins?
I've removed the lower nut & tapped the lower wishbone mount but it's stuck to the kingpin.
Have I forgot to remove something?

Regards
Al

[ja17]

It's a tapered fit at the bottom and it will lock itself in place. Heat, a bigger hammer or a man with a press are your options.

[gorgoo]

Hello,

I would say "press" definitely. And the thing is you can't tighten the two halves of a bearing separator below the lower part of the kingpin assembly, you have to put it just under the upper part, and press on the shaft.
And you should use a ball between press and shaft if you don't want to flatten the tip of the shaft.
It'a a conical assembly, and a long one at that, one of mines needed 8 tons to disassemble, you'd need a really BIG hammer!.
Didier.

[Albert]

I stripped down 4 x assemblies at once as I had a spare car set.
I used a huge press & it was a tough job.
Scary are the words I'd use.
When it lets go it shakes the s##t out of you.

I then tapped the bushes & drifted out the tap.
Piece of cake.

[glenn]

One of the more fun jobs!!!  Can you loosen the nut(nut holds spring in check) on the bottom a little past the last thread and then jack the car up on the nut.  Let the car weight work on the king pin.  Wait---  Put some WD-40 in a grease gun and pump it into the middle kingpin grease fitting.  Wait--- tap, whack  the king pin....A little heat....  Were the wheels steering?

[Dave H]

It sounds like you have dropped the complete front subframe off the car and now need to strip it further.
A word of warning here...if you release that bottom nut without any restraint in place that spring has the potential to fly out and kill you...!
Put the bottom nut back on at arms length and whatever you do dont hit it with a hammer , it really is that scarey .
Thread a metre length of 12mm screwed rod  through the centre of the spring and assembly ,top to bottom ,with suitable sized plate washers and nuts either end . It takes minutes to fit and keeps everything safe.
They sell 12 and 16mm screwed rod in metre lengths in B&Q..From memory I think it's the 12mm you need.
You can then whack, heat, or do ,whatever you want to the bottom attachment and when it does ,"let go" the spring wont hit you .
Then release the spring tension gradually by undoing the screwed rod.
That spring is under massive compression , when you get it out you realise the force it contains.

[Albert]

Did you replace the kingpins with Mercedes ones or after market "febi bilstein" parts?
Mercedes ones are so so expensive.

Please reply as I must purchase the service items this week
Regards
Al

[Dave H]

I used the febi blistein parts... Really good quality,
Also for the upper and lower trunnions and pin kits.