Are these spindles any good?

[Mtntopper]

Pulled the front wheel bearings today for a quick service and to check things. I will be doing a full service later in the summer when I have more time. Question is: are these spindles supposed to have grooves where the bearings ride? I don't see any bluing from heat, but the grooves don't seem right.

 

[Feistl]

Little bit hard to tell, the “steps” are supposed to be there but the “groove” where the seal runs is going to be your problem.

not sure about in America, but here in Australia we have onlineautoparts who sell replacement spindles very cheaply which are good quality. I have tried using the eBay ones but had issues with the tolerances being incorrect.
Could always get genuine but suspect they won’t be cheap

ideally you need to run your fingernail over the groove, if you can feel it/it catches then it’s probably due for replacement. (The wear mark means the seal won’t seal brilliantly and may let water in). If it’s just a daily driver you might be able to reuse them, but if you’re doing any sort of water crossings you probably need to replace them

 

[Mtntopper]

I got ahold of the guys over at Cruiserbrothers, great people. They say the spindle is supposed to taper down where the bearings go. I have no bluing and no scratches so they say I'm good to go with those spindles.

 

[brian]

if there "grooves" on the top...the bottom is going to worse....loose preload leads to spun bearing races.

 

[Mtntopper]

if there "grooves" on the top...the bottom is going to worse....loose preload leads to spun bearing races.

Spun races was definitely my concern. Shouldn't that spindle be blue if the races where spinning?