How hard to replace kingpins

It depends on your back round and tooling. It's more of a job than many would want to take on, but they find that out once the truck is disabled. If you're truck stays busy might be to your advantage to have them done and get back to business.

 

Was walking through my local KW/Volvo dealer one day. Saw a Vovo with the front axle pulled, shop foreman said kingpins are wore out and the only way to repair is with a new front axle I'm like WTF !!! Anyone else heard of this ?

As far as kingpins, you'll have to pull the wheel, brakes, and hub. Then depending on which way you go, may have to pull the tierods.[I don't] At any rate you'll need some 6 or 8 point sockets, big ones BTW, to pull the nuts holding the outer bearing in place. Then you pull the hub out enough to free the outer bearing remove hub carefully. I usually take the 10 bolts off that hold the spindle on than take the upper and lower caps off than pull the drawkey. Now get your sledgehammer and beat it out if you can.......... I have an OTC press that makes this job a cakewalk. It's a pretty technical job and I usually figure most of a Saturday shot to do one. And I have a well equipped shop. So if it's a new thing for ya, might leave it to a good local shop. I've used exclusively Kaiser no ream kits and had good results so far. ! The first I did has been going for close to 5 years.

 

I love the kiasers best kit bye far ice installed hundreds and so far none have had any problems I like to leave as much one the hubs as possible hard on the back but also saves time hopefully they come out easy if not best thing is to go rent a kingpin press you can make a bottle jack and chain work bit have to be carefull also I like to clean the old king pin and use it when I set up the shims I set the knuckle back on the axle and slide the pin past the knuckle that way it holds it all in place and I can pick the knuckle up and install the whims then check the fit of the lower bearing I've done it a lot of diffrent ways this way works for me good luck

 

Hendrickson Steer/Airtek series of axles have the kingpin cryogenically installed and are not replaceable, so if that was the type of axle they had, yes it would have to be replaced.

 

I'd advice you to identify axe first! In 90s Volvo used different axels including self made))))) there is id platye on axe! find it!

 

Is it recommended to replace axle bearings as well along with the kingpins?