King Pin basics 101 - good vs bad uppers

[ZombieK5]

Removed the driver side knuckle today. Came apart nicely. The lower king pin cover gave up a good fight but I eventually won.

The upper king pins were full of grease. The seal that is between the knuckle and the Inner C was cracked but wasn't cut all the way through. The King Pin itself was shiny and had zero pitting or gouges.

The axles came out easily and w/o any issues.

My MAIN CONCERN IS the upper king pins. I have watched every YouTube video and read as many posts on CK5 that I could find. I realize the difficulty in removal and installation.

QUESTIONS :

1) Are the upper king pins supposed to be replaced no matter what?
2) What's the Harm reusing the upper king pin?
3) The existing king pin is near mirror finished. Is that bad or just normal wear?
4) The replacement king pin is black oxide finish. Is that the normal NEW finish and it wears down?
5) Anyone have a photo of a "BAD" upper king pin?

6) IF IT MATTERS, I am replacing the nylon bushing with the brass bushings... Does that change the equation about using the old king pins?

Photos attached including knuckle king pin bore

 

[nvrenuf]

The mirror finish is good. You’re looking for gouges or signs of heavy wear. That smooth, shiny cone looks good to me.

I have no idea about the black king pins (vs. shiny).

I’ve run a few 60’s over the years and never replaced a kp but I’ve also been lucky and had axles that were in good shape when I got them.

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

@sweetk30

 

[sweetk30]

@sweetk30

Run that sexy pin

 

[sweetk30]

And for anyone later ...... Thread 'how to tell if your king pin 60 parts are shot' https://ck5.com/forums/threads/how-to-tell-if-your-king-pin-60-parts-are-shot.307918/

 

[centexk5]

That’s actually really helpful. Thanks for the link.

 

[ZombieK5]

Run that sexy pin

OK....running the "sexy" pin. Needed to check with other guru's before I did anything stupid!

 

[centexk5]

If you don’t put “sexy pin” somewhere on your build I’m going to be disappointed.

 

[Chickntrk]

I was going to say when I replied to your thread yesterday about the torque, what was wrong with your upper pins because I’ve seen very few if any that ever needed replaced, I too would run that sexy pin.

 

[ZombieK5]

Run that sexy pin

Any thoughts on the small amount of pitting on my passenger side king pin? Found some pitting on the nylon bushing too. The lower portion of this king pin had a few sections tha were less shiny but it seems in similar condition as the driver side.

Have some discoloration inside the knuckle upper bore. It doesn't seem too bad either...

 

[obijuank5]

A new cup and fresh grease will do the trick on those.
I am not worried about the pitting much.

 

[Chickntrk]

I wouldn’t have any issues running those

 

[nvrenuf]

x3 - I'd run it.

 

[ZombieK5]

Thinking I should run with it...

 

[centexk5]

Mine look worse than that and I run them with no issues.