I am in the midst of a front knuckle rebuild. It has been 30K miles since my last rebuild, which I did about 4 years ago. I did this one because by driver side front knuckle started leaking diff fluid. The passenger side is fine, although of course I'll be rebuilding that side as well.
During the last rebuild, I used Marlin inner axle seals and thought those to be the culprit for what I thought to be premature leakage. But upon taking everything apart, I noticed this wear on the spindle.
Spindle Wear
In addition, the thrust washer has some marring on it. The races have marks, but the bearings look pretty good (no obvious damage).
The truck has about 200K miles on it, and these are original spindles. Still, it got me wondering. What causes wear on the spindle? I distinctly remember that my leaking started shortly after I got back from a hard wheeling trip at Pismo beach...I took my truck into the dunes and had some pretty hard impacts on the suspension.
My truck is for fun, and not really a daily driver. Most of the miles I've put on it (since purchased at 150K) have been camping or wheeling trips.
Specifically, my questions are:
1. Looking at the picture, should I replace this spindle? There is a deepish (but small) cut in the center and also a deep lip toward the threads that extends about 3/4 of the way around the spindle. There is also some discoloration fore and aft on the spindle, I am assuming, from heat where the bearing may have spun?
2. Is there a way to salvage this spindle without increasing the risk of getting birf soup in the near future? If so, what's recommended?
3. How do I avoid this type of damage/wear in the future...other than not wheel it of course . What PM can I do to prevent it? Should I have taken the hub off and repacked the bearings yearly, as I think some on this forum do? New spindles are not cheap and I don't want to keep replacing spindles every time I wheel my rig hard.
Thanks for the help guys. This is my first time seeing this for myself up close.
During the last rebuild, I used Marlin inner axle seals and thought those to be the culprit for what I thought to be premature leakage. But upon taking everything apart, I noticed this wear on the spindle.
Spindle Wear
In addition, the thrust washer has some marring on it. The races have marks, but the bearings look pretty good (no obvious damage).
The truck has about 200K miles on it, and these are original spindles. Still, it got me wondering. What causes wear on the spindle? I distinctly remember that my leaking started shortly after I got back from a hard wheeling trip at Pismo beach...I took my truck into the dunes and had some pretty hard impacts on the suspension.
My truck is for fun, and not really a daily driver. Most of the miles I've put on it (since purchased at 150K) have been camping or wheeling trips.
Specifically, my questions are:
1. Looking at the picture, should I replace this spindle? There is a deepish (but small) cut in the center and also a deep lip toward the threads that extends about 3/4 of the way around the spindle. There is also some discoloration fore and aft on the spindle, I am assuming, from heat where the bearing may have spun?
2. Is there a way to salvage this spindle without increasing the risk of getting birf soup in the near future? If so, what's recommended?
3. How do I avoid this type of damage/wear in the future...other than not wheel it of course . What PM can I do to prevent it? Should I have taken the hub off and repacked the bearings yearly, as I think some on this forum do? New spindles are not cheap and I don't want to keep replacing spindles every time I wheel my rig hard.
Thanks for the help guys. This is my first time seeing this for myself up close.