AMT TURNPIKE SWING AXLE REPAIR  

By Bill Moretti

In this article we will repair the Swing Axle on a typical Turnpike car.

Legal Stuff: Repair methods in this article are the opinion of the author. Not responsible for damage to property or person. perform these repairs at your own risk.

(Please refer to page 13 of Turnpike Service Manual for part descriptions.)

Tools Required:
Drill bits:  3/64
             3/32
Rechargeable drill
Pin Vise (small hand drill)
Pliers
Small Hammer
Hobby File
Screw Driver
Soldering Gun
Rosin Core Solder
Soldering Paste

1.) Remove Trolley from car

2.) Remove body screws and body

3.)Remove retaining cap screws and remove retaining cap,
set these aside in a safe place. (see pictures 1 & 2).
Note: Retaining cap screws are the same as
track cap strip screws.

4.)Remove pickup arm from front suspension plate and
set aside carefully as not to pull wires out of
pickup arm or chassis. (see picture #3)

5.) Using the 3/32" drill bit and the rechargeable drill,
drill out bearing block rivet,taking care to keep drill
straight and not to penetrate the
hole fully (the trick here is to remove the top of the rivet
and try to retain as much of the other side (steering
actuator frame part) of the rivet as possible. I recommend
using short "bursts" with the drill for more control here.
note: bearing block will come off on drill bit, remove it by
"backing" the block off the drill bit so as not to enlarge
the mounting hole on the bearing block. (SEE PICTURES 4 & 5)
vacuum or blow off brass shards into a garbage bag.
IMPORTANT : Retain the remains of the rivet attached to the
other side (steering actuator frame) by carefully removing it
with pliers (you will be using this later).

6.) Remove Swing Axle by carefully depressing tie rod ends
with blade of screwdriver (one at a time and releasing them from the swing axle.) lift swing axle assembly out carefully.(SEE PICTURE 6 & 7)

7.) Now remove Kingpins by using pliers on the "outside" setting
(that is to say as far as they will open up) place one
end of pliers on one end of kingpin and the other end
"offset" on the opposite side of steering arm, leaving room for the other end of kingpin to slide out of swing arm "knuckle".(SEE PICTURE 8)     Return pliers to "normal" setting and grasp protruding end of kingpin. gently but firmly pull king pin in a twisting motion side to side while holding steering arm (NOT THE WHEEL, as it will come off with suprisingly little pressure - another article ) with the other hand, stopping occasionally to "choke up" on the kingpin and without too much difficulty it should slide right out. (put this also in a safe place if you plan on reusing it, unless you have new ones). (SEE PICTURE 9) Repeat for other side.

REASSEMBLY:

8.)Mount swing arms onto New swing axle:

If you're using a reproduction swing axle you will probably have to
"open up" the king pin holes so the king pins will fit properly. If this
is the case you will need to use the 3/64 drill bit in the pin vise to
open up the two king pin holes in the swing axle. This should give you a snug fit, if you have too much trouble starting the kingpin in the holes run the drill through them again till this is achieved (but DO NOT use a larger drill bit! ) If you are using an NOS swing axle this step will
probably not be necessary).(SEE PICTURE 10).

Now reattach wheel spindle assembly and kingpins to new swing axle
using pliers opened wide, taking care to place the wheel spindle assembly in the correct position on the swing axle (PICTURE 11).
Place kingpin through hole in bottom end of wheel spindle assembly and
press fit with hand pressure into hole in swing axle. Take pliers and
place whole assembly between plier jaws. gently but firmly press kingpin
into swing axle till it starts to come through the other end, now position bottom of steering arm hole over kingpin (use a good light source here)
and using pliers in an offset position (one end on top end of kingpin and one on bottom end of steering arm ) press kingpin through. Note: kingpin should protrude equally from both ends of swing arm "knuckles" to achive this I recommend using a small hammer and tapping the ends till they look fairly equal. (SEE PICTURES 12 & 13.) Repeat for other side.

9.) Making sure the tie rod is over the pin on the actuator
magnet (SEE PICTURE 14) Take swing axle assembly and attach each steering
arm to the ends of tie rod. Now (this part can be a little tricky)
with both ends secured to the two tie rod ends take the top tab of
the swing axle and push/snap it into the top tab molded into the
front suspension sub plate. (SEE PICTURE 15).

10. There are a couple of methods to replace the bearing block: one is to use a track strip screw and the other, which will give you more of an original appearance, is to solder the original leftover rivet.

Original Appearance method: (PICTURES 16 & 17)

Take the partial rivet you retained from the actuator frame side
of the chassis and put it through the bearing block hole (you may need to file it a bit as It probably became distorted by removing it earlier) into the front suspension sub plate, to secure it turn chassis over and put something (I used the end of a screwdriver in a vise) to hold the rivet in place while you perform the following: put a liberal amount of soldering paste in/on the hole in the steering actuator plate making sure some gets down into the hole to touch the end of the rivet (where we want the solder to travel)- heat up your soldering gun good and hot and melt some rosin core solder on the tip- now touch the tip to the hole in the steering actuator plate making sure the other end (bearing block side) of the rivet is flush up against the bearing block holding the swing axle securely.
Remove soldering gun and don't move chassis until you're sure solder has set up (this may take a few tries) Once solder has solidified, (assuming everything was lined up perfectly) test the strength of the solder joint
on both sides of the rivet. If all looks well reassemble pickup arm with retaining cap and screws, replace front tires and you're ready to roll.....

Screw method: Using track strip screw, attach bearing block by simply screwing track strip screw into bearing block hole till it protrudes out
of the steering actuator plate hole (you may want to cut some of the screw end off as it will push the steering actuator plate up a bit due to its wider circumference) this shouldn't affect steering and may hold the plate in place by pressure, this is your call.... I do NOT recommend drilling the steering actuator hole as the drills' torque may cause the actuator plate to tear away from the front suspension sub plate. (PICTURE 18)