Front Axle

Toe in

Crolsey19 – Summer 2009

1/16th to 1/8th max toe in

King Pins

flinttim – Winter 2009

I'm down to replace my kingpins. Would a 48 be 1/2 " or is there a chance of 5/8"? If there are two choices, how do I measure them to know?

Crosley19 – Winter 2009

If you can get the plug out of the top with a chisel you can measure them with a caliper.

JimB – Winter 2009

Unless the axle was changed it will be 1/2". They started 5/8" King Pins at CD-204813. That would be around July/August 1950.

Speedo51 – Winter 2009

Ruler would be close enough...LOL

Front Axle Width

Jim_Bollman 10/27/01

I measured one in the shop and it was 36 inches king pin center to center. The width to the center of the tire tread on a stock Crosley is 40 inches.

48 Front End Clicking

RDN – March 31, 2007

48 wagon have rebuilt the complete front end, replaced
 all the front end bushings, kingpins & everything else I could see
 that needed doing. I have a clicking noise that seems to be coming from the front of the 
car. The clicking is connected with the speed of the car. It isn't as
pronounced when the steering wheel is turned sharply. It
is a clunk-clunk-clunk sound. It is there if the clutch is in or out.
The noise started suddenly not gradual. Best guess is U-Joint,
but that would sound like it was coming from right under
the floor when you are driving not out front. Aby Ideas?

flinttim – March 31, 2007

Front wheel bearings would be the first place I would look. It would be affected by speed and the wheels turning. That would make sense. 
Might be a bad bearing or overtightened bearing. Maybe a galled bearing.

chuckk – March 31, 2007

This might sound dumb - check the cotter pin and make sure it's not 
hitting the inside of the cap.

speedoo51 - March 31, 2007

Chuck, not dumb..I would look for something in the tire tread..Stone, 
nail, etc. Sometimes its in the tire itself..I would swap front to 
back see if the noise goes rearward.

bugger5913 – April 10, 2007

This may sound even dumber, but, have him check the
wheel lug bolts, next I would check the wheels for run
out or warpage, bent etc. another thought, check brake
shoes to make sure one isn't dragging.

RDN – April 11, 2007

It isn't the brake system. Just put all new stainless cables in. No drag on them. The sound seems to be internal. I'm afraid it's the universal. How often do they go bad?

Not many U-joints go out. I have never had one go bad. They normally have plenty of lubricate because of oil draining back from the transmission and being sealed in from road grime and water.

I finally found the noise was in my wagon. I had put the new stainless steel brake cables in all four wheels. I had taken both front wheels off to see if I couldn't get to the clicking problem. I had taken both front wheels off before-Nothing. This time I took the hub off wondering if it could possibly be a front wheel bearing. I didn't think it was possible as I had cleaned & greased them myself. When the wheel & hub were off I noticed wear on the outside of the new brake cable. Sure enough one of the wheel weights was making contact with the new brake cable - Only when going straight. When turning in either direction the clicking would stop. When I saw this little spot on the brake cable I immediately saw what the problem was. About 2 minutes to fix. Got a tie & put it around the cable & thru the frame. I did it on the other side too. What a time this was giving me. That one little wheel weight was the problem hitting the brake cable.

Broken Axel - Bent

GreenBayNorman – Spring 2008

Is it typical that front axles would break? My 1950 Wagon is spliced 
together with metal plates where it must have broken at one point.

Chuckk – Spring 200

I've seen axles bend--seen many that are reinforced--early axles are lighter.

Butch – Spring 200

If you look closely, your axle probably wasn't broken, just reinforced.
 Crosley made reinforcing plates to be welded inside the H web section
 of the axle. 
I've not seen or had many broken ones but have seen and had a whole
 lot of bent ones.
 Most of them look like someone jacked up the front end by jacking in 
the middle of the axle, snagged the axle while running over something, or tieing yor car down in the center of axel. Tie rods took the same beating.
 As Chuck mentioned, the later axle setup is stronger, especially the tie rods.