2nd kingpin break in 3 months 😢
Snapped another kingpin, I wasn’t too surprised when I snapped the hollow KP on my cast bears but this one surprised me LOL. The mileage this particular KP has seen makes sense though, probably somewhere from 250-300 mi of mostly pumping.
Some thoughts on kingpin breaks I wanted to share and see what anyone else thinks:
-Logically, it makes sense that running a higher durometer RS bushing puts more stress on the kingpin since it moves the main force point further away from the fulcrum, but just how much stress? Enough to shave miles off of a bolt’s life?
-on tight fitting baseplates (like don’t trip’s), sometimes/usually hammering is necessary to remove the kingpin or the hanger if it’s a spherical setup. Again, logically it makes sense these impacts over time have a negative effect on the integrity of the bolt, since it is a titanium alloy, it’s at a slight disadvantage in tensile strength. Is it enough to shave miles off of a bolt’s life? Should we be marking a finite number of times that a kingpin can be removed before it’s compromised?
-on the topic of pivot tubes vs spherical pivots, again it makes logical sense that a spherical pivot would cause more stress on the kingpin because it forces the binding action down towards the bolt, whereas a eurothane pivot tube will absorb some force and delay a full bind of the truck, but how much so?
Just some thoughts, gonna continue doing research and crunching some numbers. Happy riding 🛹