Vintage Austin Services

Front axles rebuilt and repaired.

Do you need new king pins? Jack up the front axle and feel for play in the hubs and swivel axle pins (king pins). If there is any play or roughness work is needed.  Front hub assemblies can be rebuilt with new wheel bearings, oil seals, brake cam spindles and bushes, cotters and new king pins and bushes. Removal of the king pins and bushes without special extractor tools is not an easy task and new bushes must be reamed in line with a special reamer.

Whilst the reaming process is being carried out, the king pin must be inserted periodically, to ensure a good fit without tightness.

Axles Eyes Repaired, Shrunk and Re-machined.

The king pin must be a snug fit in the axle eye. If you insert a king pin in the eye and it rocks around like this, you will need to have the eye repaired and shrunk.

There have been instances in the past of  axle eyes being bushed to restore a good fit to the pin. This is potentially unsafe because it weakens the area around the eye and can lead to breakage.

This axle eye has been heat treated and shrunk. This process is followed by machining to ensure correct castor and  camber angles.

1933 Box Saloon

Dropped Front Axles

In addition to carrying out repairs to front axles, Vintage Austin Services adapt standard front axles to Sports Specification.

Spring Shackles
We remanufacture spring shackles using hardened steel pins, giving them a new lease of life.  

Back Axles.
Vintage Austin Services do not carry out work on back axles, but if you are rebuilding a back axle, setting up crown wheel and pinion, you may find this information helpful.