Oiler on front axle needed?

[rainer]

Hello. Since I got my Lizzy, one thing repeatedly comes into my mind.

The vertical bolts (where the wheels are turned to left/right around for steering) are different. The one on left side has an inner drill and a little oil-pot on its top.
The one on right side is massive steel without oiler and inner drills.

How important is this oiler in reality? I can put some drops of oil into/onto the gap (so I do it now), and the oil is sucked in by capillarity. I oil so often until oil starts dripping down to the floor.

If this is sufficient, I will leave it as-is. Otherwise I will have to find someone having a big enough lathe for drilling the oil channel and cross drills (where the bushings are located. But I do not have such long and thin drills and I also miss such oil can as it is sitting on bolt head.

[TXGOAT2]

It's supposed to have the oilers on top of both bolts (king bolt or king pin). The one that has no oiler and is not drilled must be home made. I'd consider replacing both of them. In the mean time, oiling as you are doing should allow using the car. If the non-oiler king pin is made from a common bolt, it may not be strong enough for such a use, so I'd be cautious with it, and replace both of them as soon as convenient. Stock king bolts are usually a high grade of steel with a ground finish and case-hardened.

[DHort]

Rainer,

I hope you have a copy of the Ford Service manual. If you have a German copy I do not know if it is the same. You would want to go to page 164, paragraph 678 and see how a front axle is put together. Hopefully your spindles are correct and you just need new bushings and a new king pin.

[jab35]

Rainer:
Those king bolts should have an oil passage. Typically, the hole extends down the center of the bolt to the point where the top bushing of the spindle supports the axle, and at that point there's a hole drilled perpendicular to the axis of the bolt, and into the first hole, to direct oil to the top of the top bushing and the excess flows down to oil the bottom bushing. I suspect you are already accomplishing that with your oiling technique.

If this car was mine, I would jack up the front axle to take the load off the wheels and remove one king bolt, inspect it and the bushings, replace it, then do the same on the other side. If parts are worn you will know, and if parts are good you will have peace of mind. If the non-drilled bolt is good, you could drill the passages with a hand drill, you should not need a lathe or special length twist drill.

I have seen some king bolts that were drilled deeper, to the midpoint between the bushings, but this arrangement delivers oil below the top bushing and as a result the top bushing may not be adequately oiled if only a few drops of oil are introduced. Good luck, respectfully, jb

[Rich Eagle]

It is important to keep oil in there. They can lock tight if they go dry.
Rich

[rainer]

Hi, jab35.

Thank you very much for your detailed description. As the car is currently completely above floor (four support frames), I was able to verify that there is no play at king bolts that would make me nervous. It seems the bushings and king bolts must have been maintained by the former owner (I own my Lizzy 2 years now).
From there this king bolt without oil drill must come.

I saw a picture where a little groove is going around the king bolt where the perpendicular drill is located.

Would be great if you (or someone else) could tell me the distance between center of perpendicular drill and bolt head and also the diameter of vertical and perpendicular drill. I guess somebody will have an old king bolt laying around?
Is the vertical drill wider to hold more oil, or is it of same diameter as perpendicular drill? I don't want to pull the oiler pot from other king bolt to measure, then it would become lose.

I thought the drill goes down the entire king bolt to supply both bushings. For that a very long drill would have been needed. But you are right, such short drill can be done on a drill-press, too. And this distributing notch can be easily grinded into the bolt.

Rainer

[jab35]

Rainer: I measured the old worn king bolt and new replacement king bolt and oil passages in both old and replacement bolts are the same. I am rebuilding a 1926 coupe. The oil passage is 5/32 Inches in diameter and it extends to the point 9/16 Inch below the bolt head. The axle is 9/16 inch thick at the top, so the lateral oil hole in the bolt is centered at the top of the bushing where it bears on the axle. That lateral hole is also 5/23 inch diameter and intersects the oil passage.

The counter bore in the bolt head for the oiler is 3/8 inches diameter by 1/4 inch deep.

My e-mail address jab35(at)cornell(dot)edu if you want to correspond directly, I can e-mail photos if you like.

Not to distract from original question, but as an engineer I'm a little bit troubled by the design, with oil passage holes removing so much material from a structurally critical part at a location where maximum shear stress is applied when driving the car. I do not have the original Ford blueprint for the king bolt, so possibly Ford used a smaller hole making the part stronger but more likely to be plugged by dirt and restricting lubrication.

Good luck with your project, jb

PS-Here's a pic from Lang's that shows detail of bolts they sell, in addition to hole there's a recess to channel oil
around the circumference of the bolt at the top bushing, good for oil but bad for strength in my opinion. http://www.modeltford.com/i/d/2931428l.jpg

[TRDxB2]

There were a few different styles of spindle bolts (king pins). One difference was based on year as noted below. The Twist style was threaded into the top of the spindle while the Flip Top was unthreaded and just pressed in. The bolts had slight different designs. The depth for the cap is about were the green line shows and the red line is a smaller diameter hole from green line to red line. The external groves around or parallel to the bolt are intended to allow the lubricant to flow to the lower bushing. ---Also as James states the oil filler hole may be plugged with dirt or even a bent flip top cap. Take a good look

[Steve Jelf]

The Twist style was threaded into the top of the spindle while the Flip Top was unthreaded and just pressed in.

And for a while between those two types they were a part of the bolt. Actually Ford used several different types of oilers. In the Encyclopedia Trent Boggess goes into detail on them.

[RajoRacer]

That type is referred to as a "manhole" oiler.

[TRDxB2]

In reading several old threads the "Man Hole Oiler" had an internal spring an rather flat cap. Nothing at all like the current style called "Flip Top". Suppliers have their oilers named.

[rainer]

Hello, jab35.

Thank you so much for this details. I have included pictures of both front wheels.

Having a closer look, the right King Bolt appears to be self made from a piece of hexagon steel. I can see the tracks caused by the steel saw on top of the bolt head.
It appears to me that 2715D oilers will be the right ones. Luckily 3/8" is very exactly 9.5mm (9.547mm), so this is luck. I do not have to buy another imperial drill, I will use a 9.5mm drill instead. For oil channels: 5/32" is approx. 4mm, also closely enough to next metric drill I have.

So I will buy a few Flip-Top press-in oilers and then start.

First I will try to get the bolt head into shape. It is really sad that 9/16" (~ 14.5mm), Into my friend's lathe up to 16mm can be fed through the spindle, so I can work on lathe (what a luck). So I will approximate the head shape and also drill the center bore on lathe.

Do this press-in oilers slide in very hard? What is the best method? I think about putting a piece of hard wood on top of it and hammer it in.

King Bolt looking original

King Bolt without oiler

[DanTreace]

King Bolt appears to be self made from a piece of hexagon steel

IMO, wouldn’t trust that part as being properly hardened for that important part, any failure risks damages. If it drills easy as you hope just to make oiler hole passage, the it’s not hardened and drilling makes it weak for the purpose intended.

Would instead get a set of proper hardened and ground finish new king pins, bushings too, and replace both sides, reaming the bushings for fit to the pins and to the axle yokes. Do a proper repair.

One last note. There may be a reason the previous owner used that non-Ford bolt. The lower threads in the axle yoke that secures the king pin may have been stripped. A common occurrence that needs repair. That person may have tapped over sized threads there that may necessitated the use of that bolt. Check the nut and threads there, compared to the other side.

[RajoRacer]

For installing flip top oilers: I have 2 different sized brass drifts I turned out on the lathe - one for the larger front axle oilers & a smaller one for the perch & shackle oilers. A hardwood dowel would also suffice I believe.

[Steve Jelf]

A hardwood dowel would also suffice I believe.

I use wood, on the theory that being softer than metal it's gentler on the oiler. Either way, drive it in with light taps, not heavy hits. It's easy to wreck those oilers with excessive enthusiasm.

[RajoRacer]

I should add that I install the oilers with the lid UP and the drift placed inside !

[Altair]

When I assembled my 26 touring 57 years ago I installed hardened 1/2" bolts into oilite bushings, there is still no unwanted movement and the steering is tight. I don't however advocate that this is the way to go, I also have a 1915 touring and I am most fussy about original equipment. The 26 was my first T and I was in my mid 20s and I was anxious to get it together and running. Today it would need a light make over to make it closer to original. I have added kerosene side lamps that were not original on an electric 26 because I had a spare set. I have also chrome plated the windshield frames and replaced the plate glass for laminated.

[speedytinc]

oilite bushings? They arent nearly as tough as solid brass (what ford used) I wouldnt use them for anything T. Some venders have tried sending oilite to me. They get returned. To my thinking, oilite only gets used on a no load small electric motor shaft. Steering bracket bushings pound out. Do you know something I dont in this regard?