Weekend Workshop

Eradicate vague steering, nasty clonks and poor tyre wear

Easily replace your classic’s kingpins at home.

Worn kingpins will lead to vague steering, flabby handling and uneven tyre wear. They’ll also lead to an MOT failure if they exhibit a significant amount of play. The problem is usually down to poor maintenance topped off with a few decades of salty road spray. Kingpins need regular lubrication with grease or oil, but they’re tucked out of sight and regularly get forgotten about. Surfaces that should be smooth and greasy become dry and oxidised, and moving parts either grind themselves apart or become inseparable. Replacing kingpins isn’t a difficult job. The only specialist tool you’ll need to do it at home is a suitably-sized adjustable reamer (from £15). Disassembly is likely to require a degree of patience, however. Be prepared for that line in the manual that says ‘and now remove the kingpin’ to turn into an afternoon of swearing, hammering, heating, pulling, pressing and additional disassembly. Try to view the process as a stimulating problem-solving exercise.

Kingpin kits are available off-the-shelf from a wide range of marque specialists. Vintage and Collectors Car Spares (01724 784230) stocks kits for older and more obscure models. If all else fails, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to assemble the parts yourself from a generic bush and bearing supplier such as Simply Bearings (01942 269837, simplybearings.co.uk).