Kingpin bearing

[Shorthaul]

It looks to me a 31 AA front spindle bearing arrangement is different than the car. The bearing looks to go between the axle and inside the spindle. Where as, I guess, the bearing goes on top of the spindle right under the kingpin. I’m assuming the open end of the bearing rides on the axle rather than the top of the spindle.
Any information on this is appreciated.

[David R.]

Yes the truck is different. Thrust bearing goes under axle knuckle. It needs to get grease from the bottom fitting on spindle. I found a NOS set when I did mine but after a long soak and repeated washings my old bearings were smoother than the new ones. Took a while to run down shims, after ordering a couple different sizes I finally found some that worked. Snyder’s had the bushings. Sorry the photo turned sideways and I don’t know how to fix it.

[Shorthaul]

Great, thanks for replying. It took me awhile to figure out what I was looking at. So, the axle rides on the open side of the bearing where shims go.

[David R.]

Original king pin thrust bearing

Here is a photo of original bearing. It is marked top. Hope that helps. Yes bearing is under axle on truck.

[David R.]

I have shims on top of axle, not sure if that’s correct or not but seems to work well.

[Shorthaul]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it and I’m glad I asked the question.