King pin clearance?

Question

I am reaming my king pin bushings, bentley says .7.092-7.099, taking it up about .001 at a time, at 7.09 the king pins are quite loose, micing the new king pins measures 7.07, is there really supposed to be .003 clearance in them or do I have the wrong king pins? bug is a

I expected them to be tighter or is the clearance for grease? Funny thing is the old king pins I took out are a larger diameter,

7.08-9, all the websites only list one set of pins for below 1965, looks like I may have the wrong ones? Plan to get a new set tomorrow, how close should I ream them? Thanks, Darrell

dave AKA vwdoc1 · Accepted Answer

Been too long since I have rebuilt any, like 30 years.  I only seem to remember 1 VW tool that reams these out.  I am not even sure if I can even find my old tool anymore.  So you have different size reamers?Clearances are pretty tight if I remember correctly, but I don't think I have ever miked them.I probably need to do some on some old Porsche 356 cars my buddy has so maybe I should find my tool and see if it is the same tool for the 356s.

KWW · Answer

A friend let me use his vintage VW reaming tool when I rebuilt the King/Link pins on my '65 about 5 years ago but a mechanic friend stopped me and instead he used his high $$ reamer that is very adjustable. Was able to ream out less metal for a tighter fit. KWW

Project Magnet #1 · Answer

That reminds me, I picked up a bunch of parts recently, including a reamer, a few sets of bushings, and a set of spindles. I really need to sort thru the boxes of parts and sell stuff like that, both of my VW's have ball joints.

Les

King pin clearance?

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