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Old 12-04-2017, 04:23 PM   #1
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F53 Kingpin issues

I had some wear on the left front tire. I took to a heavy truck shop for an alignment. I have been told I have excessive movement in the kingpins.

Anyone else had this issue? Only 19000 miles and has been requested to grease all fitting at each oil change.

Anyone? I searched and could not find any threads. Thx, Dennis.

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Old 12-04-2017, 04:57 PM   #2
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Contact frame manufacturer for remedy.
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Old 12-04-2017, 05:18 PM   #3
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It's a Ford F53 but I assume out of warranty. I was going to check that but I think the warranty id 36000 or 3 years. The 3 yr would probably get me. I'll check, thx Dennis.
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Old 12-05-2017, 03:01 PM   #4
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Update: Shop has aligned front end which was out. But main issue was the kingpins. They had play but still within tolerance. But, they were very in need of greasing.
Apparently the F53 needs to be off the ground and no pressure on kingpins in order for them to take the grease. Approximately a tube of grease went in each kingpin after off the ground.
It appears the RV shop that has been doing my oil and lube jobs doesn't know this. I will call and express my thoughts on that with them but will not return. U would think an RV shop would at least have qualified people to work on ur unit. Or they should be reviewing a service manual.
Just thought I'd share what I have learned. Thx, Dennis.
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Old 12-05-2017, 06:12 PM   #5
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I’ve had the same issue with techs not greasing things, on my pickup and motorhome. If I pay for the service, I expect it to be done.
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Old 12-05-2017, 07:53 PM   #6
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if each kingpin took a tube of grease, there are other problems. There is not a lot of clearance between the pin and the bushings.
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Old 12-06-2017, 12:57 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by ducnut View Post
I’ve had the same issue with techs not greasing things, on my pickup and motorhome. If I pay for the service, I expect it to be done.
Why I prefer to do my own... Then I know it was done right...
Reminds me to check as I had to have Ford do last oil/grease due to other issues....

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if each kingpin took a tube of grease, there are other problems. There is not a lot of clearance between the pin and the bushings.
Agree unless we are talking mini tubes.... Can't picture where much more than about 6 pumps of a grease gun could go....
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Old 12-06-2017, 02:47 AM   #8
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10 years ago I'd be doing it myself too. But with health issues I cannot.

As far as which tubes, I cannot answer that for sure but I have complete confidence with who did this service this time. When I spoke to the original service person, he admitted we do not take the weight off the axle. Either way, big or small tube, kingpins had not been greased correctly.

And, do u take the weight off or have u been half ass greasing your's? Just a thought or u might want to check? Thx, Dennis.
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Old 12-06-2017, 09:23 PM   #9
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Today I ran down a service manager of a Ford heavy truck shop. He confirmed 2 things: 1) that weight must be off axle to grease kingpins correctly and thoroughly, 2) some slack is acceptable as long as not excessive.
After the greasing and alignment everything felt great driving and seemed to be much better than before. And after further discussion with the folks that aligned front end it was a communication issue about the "excessive" slack. Apparently tech mentioned excessive slack but did not mean that my RV was that way. Manager cleared that up and told me about it later yesterday afternoon.
Anyway, I hope if ur getting yours greased by someone else u may want to confirm with them their process to make sure correct. Kingpin replacements are quite expensive to hit anytime but more than I would have wanted to hit especially right here at Xmas. Thx, Dennis.
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Old 12-29-2017, 03:19 AM   #10
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10 years ago I'd be doing it myself too. But with health issues I cannot.


And, do u take the weight off or have u been half ass greasing your's? Just a thought or u might want to check? Thx, Dennis.
I grease the front end every time I change oil (less than 7,500 miles). I always apply the grease with the weight off the front end, because the motor home is on its levelers. Yes, I understand that I am taking a chance, but not a big one as far as I'm concerned.
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Old 08-26-2021, 04:45 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Budman View Post
I had some wear on the left front tire. I took to a heavy truck shop for an alignment. I have been told I have excessive movement in the kingpins.

Anyone else had this issue? Only 19000 miles and has been requested to grease all fitting at each oil change.

Anyone? I searched and could not find any threads. Thx, Dennis.
Wow, just found this forum and searched for "kingpin" issues. I have 19,600 miles on my F-53 and I took it in for an alignment at a large truck shop. They brought me into the garage and showed me the play on the driver side which was quite a bit and the passenger side was about half the movement. I now have to replace the kingpins at around $2000. I looked up kingpins and some are not replaced until they reach 700,000+miles. Not sure what's going on but I'm trying to get Ford or GoodSam's to pay for it or at least a portion of it. I'll let everyone know how that goes.
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Old 08-26-2021, 08:43 PM   #12
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Two doubts.
I doubt the king pins will hold even a tablespoon of grease.
I doubt many professional shops use anything but bulk grease in a 5 to 55 gallon drum.

Just notes for others.
I'm sure the mechanic weighed his audience and spoke in terms his audience would appreciate.

If your mechanic doesn't add a tube of grease, do not be alarmed.
And
Consider a second opinion just like the op did.
Mechanic can back off a nut...scare a guy...and bingo, $2,000.
Or
Put it on a lift...full suspension droop, give it all a hard shake..$2,000.

As noted by the op in his excellent and thoughtful follow up:
King pin replacement is an opinion, not a death nell.
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Old 08-26-2021, 10:28 PM   #13
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I had a 2016 Fleetwood on an F53. I bought it used with 14,000 miles and some odd front tire wear. The trusted truck alignment shop I took it to said I needed Kingpins and showed me that they wobbled. I took it to a Ford Truck center and they said the Kingpins were fine just needed lube. They aligned it and I never had any other complaints. According to my owners manual the kingpins were due for their first lube at 15,000 miles so who knows what the deal was. But I elected to believe Ford and all was well.
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Old 08-27-2021, 10:47 AM   #14
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I bought a one year old class A with only 1500 miles on the Ford f53 chassis and on the first trip it would wander slightly back and forth, but impossible to correct and keep it straight. Just went from left to right continually. When I got back I took it to an alignment shop and they found the king pins were dry and very difficult to turn. He greased them and it was like driving a different vehicle! He checked the alignment too, but it was good. Because it was so new I feel the king pins had never been adequately grease right from the factory. I grease them myself now and it drives great.
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Old 11-14-2022, 06:52 PM   #15
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I just took my new to me 2018 Thor ACE 30.3 with 4000 miles on it to get the alignment and suspension checked. When they checked it out, they found play in the kingpins. The standard is that it should not be possible to see visible movement manually wriggling the tire in and out. Even a small amount of play will cause the vehicle to follow the joints between sections of pavement and not track consistently, the problem I am experancing. Of course, I am skeptical, after all the motorhome has only 4000 miles. This is not something I would expect to encounter or even think to check for, on a low mile vehicle. Then they pointed out that the kingpins were almost dry, not enough grease. Yes, first scheduled grease is 1500, but if the original factory grease job did not put enough grease to begin with, I am surprised there is as little play as there is. They also told me that they just did the kingpins on another low miles F53 chassis motor home last week. I suspect part of the problem is the low miles on the motor home. The combination of the low usage and lack of sufficient grease likely increased the wear on the kingpins.

Before anyone starts ragging on about how the shop is just trying to rip me off consider that this is also a truck repair shop that does mobile service calls for commercial trucks. They have enough work already; they do not need to create work on a simple alignment job.

How many others have had this problem? If enough people have had this issue are there any lawyers out there that think a class action lawsuit might be a possibility?
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Old 11-14-2022, 08:49 PM   #16
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I can see that being an issue if the unit sat unused for long periods. My next question would be if the engine oil was changed. Mine has upper & lower king pin grease fittings. Also on both ends of tie rods. I hit those with grease gun every 5k miles
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Old 11-15-2022, 11:05 AM   #17
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My chassis was built in January 2019 but the coach body was not put on it until June 2019. That means all chassis and suspension parts sat outside, exposed to the weather for 6 months. Potentially some units could sit exposed outside for much longer.
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Old 11-15-2022, 11:43 AM   #18
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Well I learn something new every day. Seems most king pin setups have a thrust bearing at the bottom. Unless you Jack it up and take weight off the assembly, grease can’t get to that part. Added this to todays project list.
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Old 11-15-2022, 12:13 PM   #19
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Well I learn something new every day. Seems most king pin setups have a thrust bearing at the bottom. Unless you Jack it up and take weight off the assembly, grease can’t get to that part. Added this to todays project list.
I can only grease the RV with it on the jacks. There is no way that I could crawl under it otherwise. I didn't realized that getting the weight off the suspension is important for greasing the king pins, but it makes sense to do so.
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Old 11-15-2022, 01:25 PM   #20
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I have a 2021 Hurricane 34R with currently 14000 miles which was built on a 2020 F53 chassis...
Just this past month I did the first "grease job" on the front axle as per Martin instructions below.
I could feel the difference driving afterwards!!!

Now I'll follow the direction to grease every year....

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