Spindle Wear and Questions (1 Viewer)

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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.
 
I really need to get new ones my self. Checked on used ones and they all have the marks on them from spinning bearings, must be common.
I have same washer damage. For some reason the pass side always gets loose on me. It can happen is short periods or very very long periods of miles. Dont remember driver side having issues.

I guess you could just make sure to jack up and adjust the bearing preload every time you change your oil and look at the washer to see if its damaged. Replace damaged washer as soon as it had damage.

Some have used a Loctite product Bearing Mount (not sure which version, there are several versions) to hold the bearing to the spindle so it cant spin BUT it takes heat to remove it. If you are wheeling and break a birfield and dont have a heat source you will have a hard time getting the bearing out to replace the birfield. Guess a large hammer would do the job. Wonder if a mini torch would produce enough heat to break the seal?

Do a search as someone has tried it here and it was very strong stuff.
 
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Those spindles look a lot better than mine. I used locktite 609 bearing retainer on my rear spindles but I think I will replace my fronts when I do my knuckles. 609 is fairly easy to break with just a gas torch but if you are trail repairing birfs then wouldn't you just pull the King pins and remove the whole knuckle to get at them? No need to mess with wheel bearings.

From the photo you posted though I wouldn't be too concerned, keep an eye on the preload and maybe put some locktite in there for peace of mind.
 
Thanks. So it looks like I should periodically check preload by taking the wheel off and retightening the lock nuts? Do you do this after every hard wheeling trip?

I do check for loose bearings by checking for wobble in the tires. I didn't notice any issues prior to finding this wear.
 
Here is one of my rear spindles after running 35's for 80000km with no maintenance at all.
image.jpg
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This was a bearing that had spun and seen significant amounts of water and mud. Note the worn shoulder and pitting, the bearing itself was even worse, there was about 1mm of end float in the bearings when I pulled it apart and the surface for the seal was chewed up, hence my experimental por15 coating for the seal area to see if it will fix it.
It also required a good amount of locktite to fill the pitting and worn shoulder.

I can't say whether you need to check preload after every trip, maybe check it frequently for a while then you will work out how often it should be done, you might find you need to check it every 2nd or 3rd trip. And take my advice, don't neglect to check the back axle!
 
I have run into it on a customer's axle where the grease seal was in backwards holding the hub from fully seating, flat side out not round side out. I'm not sure what preload is set at but I put a good bit of tightness on the inside nut and then back it off maybe a quarter turn this helps setting the bearings
 
Looks like simple negligence on my part, at least for how I use my rig. I'll start checking preload more often, and for this next go around see if I can get the preload set at the higher end of recommended and see where it settles with some driving.

This time, I'll be replacing all bearings and races as a baseline. From here, I think I'll remove the hub and repack with grease at more regular intervals.

While I think I can get away with reusing this spindle, I'll probably pony up the cash for those new ones with the bearing inside.
 
The rule of thumb is to replace your spindle if you can catch your fingernail on the spindle where the race sits. If you have worn a ridge in the spindle, it will prevent you from ever getting proper pre-load. And that in turn causes even more wear. Fortunately, the rears never seem to wear that fast, but the fronts do, and often need to be replaced at medium to high miles.

The best way to prevent wear is to keep the hub maintained and repacked with grease, and keep the pre-load tight on the bearings.

Regarding the pictures from the original poster-that spindle looks too worn to run and should be replaced.
 
The rule of thumb is to replace your spindle if you can catch your fingernail on the spindle where the race sits. If you have worn a ridge in the spindle, it will prevent you from ever getting proper pre-load. And that in turn causes even more wear. Fortunately, the rears never seem to wear that fast, but the fronts do, and often need to be replaced at medium to high miles.

The best way to prevent wear is to keep the hub maintained and repacked with grease, and keep the pre-load tight on the bearings.

Regarding the pictures from the original poster-that spindle looks too worn to run and should be replaced.

Don't say that! My rear axle has at least another 400,000km left in it right? :D
My friend who owned my 80 during the time that I was silly enough to let it go believed in hard wheeling and no maintenance. Now my 80 is punishing me for my indiscretion. But she is getting a supra turbo for Valentine's Day, nothing but the best for her! :bounce:

I am going to buy new front spindles this week too, thanks for prompting me to spend more money.
 
I used loctite. I have not had to remove them yet, but I haven't had any issues after about 15k miles. We'll see how it goes when it's time to rebuild them. I did some testing on an old spindle and bearing and heat did the trick. I made a flange I can use with a gear puller as well if that doesn't work. If I were going to do it again I'd use the lowest strength/temp rated loctite possible.
 
Not sure that it is worthwhile, but here's a few more pics of the spindle. The lip caused by the outer wheel is most pronounced on the bottom, from the 9 to 3 o'clock position, and merely a discoloration on the top part (no lip can be felt there).

Close Ups:




A little Different Angle/Lighting:




Bushing
 
Your last pic is a good one! That spindle is a trail spare. I would advise you to replace it, especially if you're going to the trouble of new wheel bearings. It is a wear item and meant to be replaced for a reason.
 
Your last pic is a good one! That spindle is a trail spare. I would advise you to replace it, especially if you're going to the trouble of new wheel bearings. It is a wear item and meant to be replaced for a reason.

I've always wondered why the rear axle spindles aren't replaceable, surely it would make sense to have them bolt on as well. My only guess is that it was a production cost issue.
 
I've always wondered why the rear axle spindles aren't replaceable, surely it would make sense to have them bolt on as well. My only guess is that it was a production cost issue.

My guess would be ultimate strength.
 
My guess would be ultimate strength.

No reason the spindle couldn't press into/onto the housing and just be held in with bolts, that would still retain strength but allow it to be replaced.
 

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