Wobbly wheels

[Soft_Click]

I just got new tires for my 1966 IH 1200A and the tech warned me my front wheels were wobbling a lot making it unsafe to drive.

He thinks it’s the kingpins that are worn out. I think I was able to fix the worse one by tightening the “adjusting nut” on the axle. That’s the castle nut with the pin under the grease cap. Initially I followed some guide to torque to 100-200ft-lbs then back it off and re-torque to 50ft-lbs or something. Not sure, but one wheel has almost no wobble now.

The other wheel didn’t have much luck and the wobble seems severe. Any idea what this could be? Kingpin?

Sorry I know this video sucks:

Wobbly Wheels

youtube.com

 

[Scoutboy74]

He's probably right about the king pins. It isn't just the pins themselves that can wear. The bushings they ride in and even the very bores themselves can get out of spec. There are oversize king pin sets available if a standard pin is too small for the bore. I had one side of an I-beam axle one time that was too sloppy on one side for a standard pin and needed an oversize pin set. I took the axle to a machine shop to have it line bored to accept the oversize pins. Something didn't go right. I'm not sure where the problem was, but that truck went from overly sloppy steering to overly tight. Before the work was done, you could look at the truck from the front and the wheels sort of formed and uppercase 'A' shape. After the work was done, it was the exact opposite...they formed a 'V' shape. Neither scenario was very good. With the V shape, the front tires would squeal on gravel when you turned, even at low speed! I'm not kidding. I didn't even think that was possible, but I found out it is. I bet driving like that would wear through a set of front tires in under a thousand miles. I wound up just swapping that axle out for a good used one I acquired from a parts truck with only 70K original miles. I haven't driven the truck at all yet since I did that swap, but I'm expecting it will steer much nicer.

 

[Soft_Click]

Thanks for the info, @Scoutboy74 ! Always much appreciated. Hard to imagine tires squealing on gravel!

mine are definitely the capital A, but it’s not very noticeable.

I guess I need to figure out what axle I have and replace those kingpins.

It’s already a lot better since I tightened those adjusting nuts, I might get back to improving the engine and hold off on this

 

[Scoutboy74]

Your axle doesn't have ball joints. Those are only in front driving axles (4x4). The king pins might be a little tough to source. You should call the gang during business hours to see what they say.