Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

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"Whitey Ford"
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Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by "Whitey Ford" »

So i just redid my whole front end and about a month later im getting a vibration in the front end at 50 mph. I brought it in to get a proper alignment cause maybe i was off an 1/8 here or maybe more. Guys called me and said my king pin driver side was sloppy. I went there and sure as hell it is. Im going to fix it but would a king pin cause the truck to shimmy in the front? I had the tires balanced twice already. He said everything else looked good but there was some some slop in it.
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ICEMAN6166
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by ICEMAN6166 »

any loose front end part can cause a shimmy.

you mentioned having your tires balanced 2x but were they carefully inspected before as a broken belt or tire tumor can be balanced but still cause an issue.
i mention this because recently i have encountered a slight shimmy and having a tight front end, looked at the tire and discovered some sidewall discrepancy in my drivers side front tire. going to be looking for some new tires and in the meantime try to limit the use of the truck if possible.
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"Whitey Ford"
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by "Whitey Ford" »

I bought new tires and have less than 300 miles on them. all was well and out of nowehere developed this vibration at 50 mph. it sorta went away after 55 or so but not alot. Im just hoping this is the root of my evil. I mean its got some decent play on the drivers side where the passenger has none. I know it was good when i rebuilt it. not sure what happened.
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ICEMAN6166
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by ICEMAN6166 »

only have to hit one bump in the road to mess up a tire sometimes. might not even have been that just a defect.

also did you use the nylon bushings in your kingpin rebuild or the original type
1966 F250 4x4
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Blackwaterforge
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by Blackwaterforge »

ICEMAN6166 wrote:did you use the nylon bushings in your kingpin rebuild or the original type

X2
If it cain't be fixed with a sledge hammer it must be an electrical problem!
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"Whitey Ford"
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by "Whitey Ford" »

original type and had them reemed. Im thinking what happened was a few weeks back the lowering block (i have a dropped axle) bolt that goes to the tie rod broke and things went crazy. Basicall no different than the tie rod bolt breaking. ANyway the wheel went flopping. Im thinking it may have rouned out the bushing in there. I mean its not real bad but defeintly notcieable and worse than the other side. Pisses me off cause i did it all myself and now im secind guessing what i did wrong or was it just a shitty bolt and luck of the draw.
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azjake
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by azjake »

Loose king pins will not cause a shimmy. Worn tie rod ends or a steering gearbox that is out of adjustment may cause a shimmy when hitting a bump, but not hen you are traveling at 50-55MPH. You have another issue.

Are you sure that the problem is in the front end? Does the steering wheel shake left and right, or are you feeling an up and down vibration in the steering wheel with the vibration being felt more in the seat than in the steering wheel? If the shimmy is more in the seat, the problem is probably a tire out of balance in the rear of your truck.

I hope that this helps. If I was closer, I would be happy to come by and help. Of course, you could bring your truck out here. The Arizona weather is getting nice, now!

Jake
(A retired front end/frame/spring/brake tech)
I think I'll go to the "Spousal Avoidance Center" (workshop) for a while...
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"Whitey Ford"
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by "Whitey Ford" »

Jake, thats what i thought. I know about where the shimmy/vibration areas as far as where you feel it. I actually feel it more in my feet but in the steering wheel too. i can literally see the shaking in the front end though. I had the tires balanced twice, they are new. i think a tie rod may be bad but also the fact that i see some slop in the kling pin drivers side already i should change it out again. its weird cause its all new and it was good till that tie rod issue. May have ruined it with that lowering block bolt breaking. It was worse but when i switched the front tires from drivers to passenger and vice versa it helped out alot. Thats why i went and gotit rebalanced. thought it was that. i also could have had bad toe in which is why i brought it to the shop in the first place. to have it professionally done. I redid every bushing for the springs, tie rods, king pins, rotors, brakes, bearings, all of it. like i said it was all good and now its happening about 300 miles later.
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bruceandersson
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by bruceandersson »

I'd swap tires with a vehicle that does not shake. It was always my understanding that lower speed (under 55) shimmies were most often tire problems. If you can swap all together, move the from the to the rear and see if the feeling in the steering goes away or changes. New tires can still have problems.
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banjopicker66
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by banjopicker66 »

Don't overlook the rest of the drivetrain. I know it would be simply coincidental, but double check your U-joints and the carrier bearing, if your truck has one.
Normally, steering wheel vibration is coming from the front, and bad U-joints will make themselves evident from the seat of your pants - but not always.
I assume the truck has not yet been properly aligned?
I would recommend to first fix the king pin and get it aligned before spending any more money on it.
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"Whitey Ford"
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Re: Loose/bad King Pins make a truck vibrate?

Post by "Whitey Ford" »

yeah thats what im going to do. I will do the king pins, new tie rods even though these are new but i had another set, do an alignment ANd see whats up. I cant change the front to back tires because the rear are a different pattern than the front. I have disc brake conversion. i do want to change the king pin either way because it shouldnt have this much slop, which is maybe a 1/4 inch, in this little of time. I mean everything is new so this is odd.

another thing becasue there is a little play in the steering wheel i cannot feel the vibration too much there. however it really feels more in the front than the back.
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