Is this the king pin bearing?

Hi all

Just wanted your opinion on what i think might be my driver side king pin bearing giving up. There is a creaking/cracking sound coming from the drivers side wheel. I can hear it when i go around corners but it realy makes some noise when i reverse. There is also some grease around around the steering knuckle, no oil being sprayed but the noise seems to be getting worse. Do you guys think its the king pin bearing? I would like to have a go at changing it myself if it is. Is it a difficult job? I have read the "how to" and i seems fairly straight foward. What do you think?

thanks

Nobby

Hello there !
I've had a similar problem which is still yet to be fixed. I recently posted a similar topic. See below.

www.bigjimny.com/index.php?option=com_ku...7&id=19040&Itemid=75

Hope this helps !
Luke

I used to get quite a loud CRACK from the steering when parking. One of my kingpin bearings was full of rust.

I also developed a howling grinding noise from the back axle. Even got someone in the back to listen to it. Turned out to be a FRONT wheelbearing

Changing the kingpin bearings won't hurt, they are nearly always gone. You can always inspect, regrease and replace if they are ok anyway.

Hi there i am glad i read this because i got the same problem but mine does it when going around a left hand corner while braking the thing is i had the king pin bearing done in january and now it sounds like its gone again i am sure the garage i took it to is useing cheap bearings and charging me top whack , but not this time i just order a set from the bigjimny shop and going to do it myself .

I changed the king pin bearing following the guide on this site. Went ok. Only small change I made to the instructions was to get the bearing housing out of the big round bit I used a blow torch and a hammer and screw driver rather than welding a bit on. So I heated up the big round thing with the blow torch not the bearing casing.

Goat wrote: I changed the king pin bearing following the guide on this site. Went ok. Only small change I made to the instructions was to get the bearing housing out of the big round bit I used a blow torch and a hammer and screw driver rather than welding a bit on. So I heated up the big round thing with the blow torch not the bearing casing.

Easiest way i've found to get the bearing race from the knuckle is a small cold chisel, theres enough of a lip to tap all the way round and it soon comes away.