Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing HardChrome Kingpins

My car had hard chromes when bought second hand. I have done 42k+ and no wear showing. Regularly greased at 1000 miles intervals. In Sept did a trip to Morgans at Windermere then up to Loch Lomond area. Greased before and after. This winter I’ll fit remote greasing so long runs can be done with easier greasing. New mainsprings planned as well so a good time to do both. Choice is between just new springs or a spring/bearing upgrade. Probably bearing option.

I don’t understand king pin wear. I had my OE ones changed at 55000 miles, as the springs had lost their springiness & were being changed. The king pins only showed a little wear & still passing mot. But I was very remiss at greasing them. Hardly ever did it maybe every 5000 miles or so. Anyway replaced with hard chromed ones. We shall see how they last. The rebound springs did have gaiters from new. I wonder if it is how the reaming is done that determines their life.

I got Wolf gaiters fitted.

I asked for those at AW but they hadn’t any in stock (MOT fail) and said that they found fitting them an issue. Have maintained my allegiance to the DaveW Mohair gaiters.

I had no trouble re-fitting my Wolf gaiters when I added the SSL RS kit, despite having Cain's lower steering bearings as well. You have to be careful not to trap them though. Cain himself fits them in a matter of minutes using his own stub axle retaining tool which fits on shock absorber mounts.



Thinks, this would make a great Christmas prezzy

Me too, I bought a pair a couple of years ago and they've stayed in position perfectly.

I have been riding hard chrome kingpins for the first time ever since spring. My previous normal ones lasted about 70,000 km, which is a good value? It is a 4/4.
I wonder if the wear of the kingpins is also due to the weight of the vehicle and the associated greater dynamic effects of the deeper dipping of the front springs? Also the higher grip of wider tyres and therefore more tugging on the axle in curves on the heavier Trad models?
My first kingpins only lasted 28000km with regular greasing. But back then they had much softer springs that allowed more dive than my Mulberry 140lb springs?

+1. Surely the heavier front end and wider tyres must play a part in the longevity of the kingpins. The Roadster requires much more effort to turn the steering compared with my 4/4.

AWs told me they had made up a tool to do the job.

Very neat and “out of sight…out of mind”.
And there for me lies the slight disadvantage if you have SSL. You cannot easily monitor the tension, (or gap) on the rebound springs. I think several of us have found that occasional remedial adjustment is needed. Not that often, admittedly…just sayin’.
It’s where the simple wrap over/ cable tie approach may be advantageous.