1940 Ford front I-beam axle

[fordor41]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

Even though there are a few hold-outs that refuse to believe this (because they find difficulty installing the king pin LOCKING PINS), as Mart and rich b said above...there is NO front or rear side. The axles are symmetrical! DD

As I remember the king pin locking pin on my '41 is a tapered pin that is installed from the front and the stop nut to the back that also serves as a stop when turning. If the axle were to be installed reversed, the pin would be installed into the king pins the wrong way.

[Fordors]

Let's put it this way- the axle doesn't know right from left, if you do happen to spin the axle and get the right side on the left it will not matter. The hole in the axle for the cotter is a through hole, it has no taper. As has been said here already if there should be some deformation to the edge of the hole from the lock washer and steering stop you may need to run a drill or even a rat tail file and dress the hole a slight bit. The only taper is not in the hole, it is on the cotter, the cotter is the same diameter it's whole length, with a 3* taper wedge machined on it to lock the k/p as the steering stop nut is tightened.
Made the way the cotter is means the machining tolerances can be a bit "looser". Think about it, if the cotter was tapered to fit the hole then the taper that holds the king pin would have to be spot on to do it's job.