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I haven't had any reason to get a hold of them lately. I replaced that pin and said screw it. I think that I am just going to replace all my Bennett kp's. I didn't even know they had changed owners.
Mr. Bennett and I had some really great emails before his disappearance last fall, and he was generous in giving $100 to one of the Livestrong Ultras, on top of donating wheels for the cause which I auctioned off. Then I think he changed email accounts or something.
More recently I sent a couple mails to Buddy Carr at Tailtap, the first at beginning of February, then another a couple weeks ago -- but still haven't heard anything back. To not get any reply was a bit disappointing to say the least, but I'm not going to stew on that just yet.
...
What's more interesting to me at the moment is a discovery I made by popping out a few kingpins, getting ready to take them to a local shop for some replacements (finally)
I've been baffled as many know here, how I've not yet broken a Bennett pin -- while others are starting to do so with some regularity. I can safely say without exaggeration I've put several thousands of miles on my Bennett 4.3 truks, the ones that I first bought back in 2006 when Gareth and Brian first started chatting about LDP and my testing out his stuff. I instantly dug the truks and continued to like the 4.3 -- and continued to ride these two I have into the ground.
My beat up kingpins from the old 4.3's are still holding up, and now I think I know WHY. Check the photo:
The pin on the left is the old 4.3 one and the black baseplate that matches it. The pin on the right comes from a newer 5.0 one with a silver baseplate. Ignore the middle one for now.
Note how the older pin's splines at the bottom are WIDE and the newer bolt's splines are NARROW and thus there are many more of them -- which collectively creates more of a horizontal "cut" into the shank of the bolt, right at the stress point. The baseplates are of course grooved to match. I would suspect the newer bolts are fundamentally weaker.
Very interesting... It also appears that there is a bit less threading on the old pin which might explain some of the longevity(less shredding) you've experienced with your bushings compared to what many others have found with the newer pin.
Good point Landy. That's what I'm aiming for with the middle one, hoping that the local shop will have that same size bolt, but with far fewer threads.
As for the grade question on the old pin, not sure, maybe Buddy will respond to someone else? sk8info@tailtap.com
On the shredding issue, just a quick note. When i switched from a very non-standard bushing setup (two cones in an hourglass with a sliver of a barrel glued on there) to a more conventional one (blue cone superglued to white barrel, no cutting) i eliminated all bushing wear. My bushings look brand new now. I cant really explain it, i used to chew thru bushings like crazy and now they look great, id say if youre having shredding problems it might be worthwhile to change bushing combos to something more standard and see what happens.
The four pins on the left are those that Dave and I had made from our trip to Tacoma Screw the other day. We're going to try mounting them up this weekend. Originally 3" in length, we had cool dude Rick grind the tips off, leaving just enough threading for the nut and lots of smooth shank which should help solve the bushing wear problem.
To hold the bolt head in place, we're going to test this loctite compound first, which Barry has done with some success, then try an epoxy, per Camel's recommendation. The best mod here of course would be a little baseplate machining, creating a hex-shaped catch underneath. I'll leave that one to Bennett...
i'm sure you could slap a bead or two of alloy weld into the baseplate cavity using a MIG welder to hold the KP head (or nut, if you're inverting) in place.
For me at least, no inverted bolts, no nuts in the baseplate. IMO, that would undo all the logic of this strategy -- given the threaded portion of the bolt loses 18% of its strength compared to the smooth shank, and so far all these bolts are breaking down in that area just above the baseplate clearing.
Is alloy weld like "JB weld"? I'm open to all ideas. We're just going to try some of this loctite the first round, then maybe return the bottle that we don't open, if it doesn't seem to hold (Dave and I each bought a bottle -- stuff is NOT cheap!)
hmmm....true dat. i guess i had my head more around preventing bushing death due to the long threads. but of course if you're replacing the KP with a less-threaded one then this is moot.
by alloy weld i mean actually MIG or TIG welding a bead or two of alloy welding wire into the alloy baseplate, to anchor the KP head.
the weld doesn't need to be much, just a couple of blobs that prevent the head from turning...just enough to penetrate the baseplate alloy (and, since cast alloy is generally "dirty" and often contains alot of air bubbles, you don't want to weld too hard in there so as to prevent weakening the baseplate)
if you use a high enough amperage on your MIG welder, you can even stick alloy to steel (after a fashion) using plain steel welding wire.
if you're using JB weld, make sure you use the runny 2-pack affair, rather than the all-in-one kneadable crap (doesn't stick so well). before applying, rough up the surface of the baseplate (a centre punch is best to create little dimples) which well help the JB adhere better.
another option is to drill and tap a 4 or 6mm hole into the baseplate near where the KP head sits, and screw in a grubscrew so that it sits against the KP head and prevents it from turning. just pop a bit of Loctite on the grubscrew first so that it doesn't vibrate out.
if you don't have access to a set of taps and dies, then you could always force a thick short wood screw/machine screw into the hole you've drilled (with a bit of Loctite for good measure).
it's the engineer and fabricator in me coming out!
I have done the KP swap on several Bennett baseplates now, using the Loctite shown above. A few of the KPs came loose, and needed repeat applications of Loctite, but now seem to be sticking. So you know, I indeed had prepped the surface prior to applying the Loctite with Acetone and 600 grit sandpaper.
While they are sticking for the time being, if they continue to come loose, I was considering trying JB Weld.
I've never used JB Weld before. For those of you who have, how permanent/strong is it? Would it still be possible to remove the JB Welded KP without causing damage to the baseplate for future KP changes?
JB weld just needs a hammer and a screwdriver to remove it - not difficult. Kinda like Loctite. doesn't eat into surfaces, but if applied correctly lasts almost forever.
it'll generally remove as a chunk, that's why you need to really prep the surface (not just clean and abraded) before using it, otherwise under vibration it can just come free.
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:23 am Post subject: Is that your final answer?
This is ALL you need guys. I have been using it for over a year. (It says it is for China and Porcelin, that is just because it dries "off white". It is WAY more than you would ever need for that kind of repair.)
Devcon 2Oz White 2-Ton Epoxy S30
"Bonds and repairs metal, wood, concrete, glass, ceramics, porcelain, china, tile/fixtures and fiberglass. Sandable and paintable. 2500 psi bond strength. Sets in 1 hour."
I have never had this come loose, it has a slight bit of flex that keeps it from breaking loose. Slather it around in the kp hole and the inside of the baseplate. Wrap the threads tightly with saran wrap, push through the hole. Assemble the truck after cleaning excess and leave it overnight. In the morning you will have a permanent bond between kp and baseplate. Works like a champ every time...
I put together a bennett 5.0 baseplate with the new KPs that james and i had made. I used red loctite 262 (the same one pictured above). The KP is a little shorter than im used to, i couldnt fit my current bushing combo on there but i made something work for now. I probably wont use it for the ultra considering its so close and i dont want to dial in a new bushing combo. Anyway, as far as i can tell, the red loctite is working just fine. I was able to put the nut on fine without any slippage or slop. I rode it around the neighborhood for a second but its kinda wet out and i didnt want to push it. The KP clearance is nice, very little of the bushing is on threads, over all im pretty satisfied. I think the loctite worked fine despite its many opponents
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