Replace Spindle??? (1 Viewer)

[Manuelsv]

So I decided to Drive my Cruiser to Puerto Vallarta Mexico for vacations! All went well except for on the way back!!
My front bearing disintegrated and melted my spindle and actually even melted part of the birfield!!! 90 KM past Mazatlan, and about 90 KM from the nearest good size town in the middle of farm valleys....
I was lucky enough to be pulled over by one of those evil and so feared federales after he thought he saw smoke coming out of my front axle as I drove past him!! :whoops:

So I ended up spending 2 days in Somewhere in the middle of nowhere! Sinaloa..
Some middle of nowhere farming town in the notariously drug producing and Narco-infested part of Sinaloa!!! Well at first I thought that's it.. we are dead!!! But the farmers that came to our rescue turned out to be AWESOME!!! they did everything to help us! Drove us around get some bearings, tools, and find a machine shop to rebuild the spindle and make us some new retaining nuts and lock etc.... So we could limp the cruiser back to the states!! I really can not express my gratitude to those super nice folk who really where beyond helpful and accommodating!
Limped the cruiser back to Phx, driving 50MPH for 20+ hours.. being afraid the repair is not very strong!!! on the plus side.. I found that if I drive 50MPH, I got 16MPG!!

Could have been muuuucho worse. https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/381024-rth-boise-hub-separation-speed-2.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/231671-how-bad-does-look.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/74295-bad-conclusion-great-weekend.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/275042-front-axle-rebuild-hard-way.html

OK so the Question: Would you trust the spindle after the repairs shown on the pics below!?

 

[Manuelsv]

PICS

Pics showing the action

 

[Manuelsv]

More Pics

Here you can see the Spindle

 

[Manuelsv]

Some of the rebuild Process

Some of the rebuild Process

Had to Chissel out the bearing from the hub, since the melted hub was phisically bigger than the bearing!!! All in all it only took us about 5 hours to remove the hub from the truck!

 

[Manuelsv]

Sorry just had the crapy Cell Phone and ran out of Battery

Sorry just had the crapy Cell Phone Camera and ran out of Battery

 

[Manuelsv]

We had to use an air gun to remove the retaining nuts because they where melted, and also fused to the hub! Luckily I had my 54MM socket in my emergency tool kit!

 

[Manuelsv]

So the Spindle was machined by welding on to the warped and bent portion you can see on the pictures, and then machined and re-grooved at the local farmer's tractor repair shop!
We could not re-use the original retaining nuts, back plate, or locking nut since they where all melted! So we had to re-groove the spindle to accept the nearest or closest size nuts we could source locally, then we had to machine the nuts we found locally to 1/2 their original width so they could fit in the hub space, bearings where no problem though! They had a very well stocked bearing shop that was very nice to try to match the pieces of bearing I had left and get me the right size bearings by trial and error!!
Sorry i don't have more pictures since my cell phone battery died afterwards!

On the way back to Phoenix, I kept checking the temperature of the hub by touch, and the repaired side (PS) was always quite a bit hotter than the non repaired side (DS). I have to assume it's not a bad repair since it made it 1000 Miles back home... But long term??? and possibility of Catastrophic failure in future??? Anyone have a spare hub for sale? or know of one at a junkyard?

 

[inkpot]

Wow!! Quite the story. Glad you were able to find some good folks to help you out. Obviously, it is drivable but I would gather up the parts you need to replace everything with OEM. Otherwise, it may not be as reliable and long lived as original, and it could be hard to work on in the future especially if you had to do another field service or repair. Any idea when the knuckles/bearings were last serviced? John

 

[Tools R Us]

Way carnage story!

I would replace the spindle, birf and any hardware affected. When was the last time that the wheel bearings were serviced? Would also check, service the other side.

 

[Manuelsv]

Way carnage story!

I would replace the spindle, birf and any hardware affected. When was the last time that the wheel bearings were serviced? Would also check, service the other side.

I did the front axle service about 30K ago! Replaced all the bearings, and axle shaft seals,, Everything looked good and tight and I even did a check for play at the wheels 1 week before leaving to make sure! When I did the axle service I also followed the preload instructions and even used a fishscale!
There was no signs of impending failure Steering wass tight.. And I only had an issue with braking slightly to the left which I put down to geometry after the lift, or a worn bushing.. which I was meaning to investigate further, but thought was not a critical maintenance item to fix before a 3k Mile trip!
All I can think of is the preload on the bearings was wrong??? Or it was just one of those 1 in a million chance that the bearing was bad quality or not properly greased or something like that?? Can't really point to any one specific thing that was done or not done during the axle service that would explain the failure!!

About replacing the Birf... I am not sure it needs to be replaced??? I mean the shaft after the (hub/joint) on the birf is a bit worn/gouged, but it's no more than 4-5% of the total thinness?? other than that the birf did go back in it's place, and for my kind of wheeling, I don't think It will break? Anyhow!! I know the spindle is pricey and the birf!! Well that's made of unobtanium!!! So I am hoping to make it right, but I don't want to replace anything that does not need replacement!

 

[Living in the Past]

Way carnage story!

I would replace the spindle, birf and any hardware affected. When was the last time that the wheel bearings were serviced? Would also check, service the other side.

X2

Any vehicle that is DD, highway used I would go new OEM. On my old cruisers that are used mainly off road I would go used and not worry about. The parts you remove would go on the garage wall just waiting for the next person to visit your garage to ask "what is the story behind the parts on the wall".

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I love Mexican mechanics

Great outcome

 

[murf]

Way carnage story!

I would replace the spindle, birf and any hardware affected. When was the last time that the wheel bearings were serviced? Would also check, service the other side.

X3

wOW - interesting story and good outcome

 

[Manuelsv]

Way carnage story!

I would replace the spindle, birf and any hardware affected. When was the last time that the wheel bearings were serviced? Would also check, service the other side.

Yep... I just kept thinking.. If people in places like Afghanistan Somalia and Some other god forsaken heck hole can keep these beasts running without a Toyota dealer within a 10000000 miles from them... the heck if I'm not driving mine out of here!!
But I do have to admit.. It was a bit intimidating at first thinking where the heck I'd get the spares I need!!!
I think my skills just got updated by a couple of

 

[Tools R Us]

I did the front axle service about 30K ago! Replaced all the bearings, and axle shaft seals,, Everything looked good and tight and I even did a check for play at the wheels 1 week before leaving to make sure! When I did the axle service I also followed the preload instructions and even used a fishscale!
There was no signs of impending failure Steering wass tight.. And I only had an issue with braking slightly to the left which I put down to geometry after the lift, or a worn bushing.. which I was meaning to investigate further, but thought was not a critical maintenance item to fix before a 3k Mile trip!
All I can think of is the preload on the bearings was wrong??? Or it was just one of those 1 in a million chance that the bearing was bad quality or not properly greased or something like that?? Can't really point to any one specific thing that was done or not done during the axle service that would explain the failure!!

If it had the proper amount of grease (too much or little, both bad) and proper setup, it was likely a bad bearing. Have seen it several times, this is one of the reasons that I don't replace good bearings. Old bearings are broken in, hold preload better and are proven, lower chance of failure.

In my experience, the fish scale method nets too light of a preload setting and is inconsistent, differs depending on seals, grease, etc. I simply torque to ~25-30ft/lb.

About replacing the Birf... I am not sure it needs to be replaced??? I mean the shaft after the (hub/joint) on the birf is a bit worn/gouged, but it's no more than 4-5% of the total thinness?? other than that the birf did go back in it's place, and for my kind of wheeling, I don't think It will break? Anyhow!! I know the spindle is pricey and the birf!! Well that's made of unobtanium!!! So I am hoping to make it right, but I don't want to replace anything that does not need replacement!

It is up to you. In the pic it looks like more than 4-5%. " for my kind of wheeling, I don't think It will break?" are you talking about relying on it not to fail in southern Mexico?

 

[BrotherRob]

You should send your new friends some CSC swag and tell them they are now honorary members.

 

[dtchevy42]

What brand is that socket set Manuelsv? I do think I see the Harbor Freight torque wrench in one of those photos...

 

[Manuelsv]

What brand is that socket set Manuelsv? I do think I see the Harbor Freight torque wrench in one of those photos...

The tool set is the Husky Husky149-Piece Chrome Mechanics Tools Set-69027 at The Home Depot I love those tools.. They live permanently in the trunk of my cruiser and get more use than any other tool I have because they are always with me when I need them!
But yes the torque wrench is HF

 

[DSRTRDR]

great story

 

[dtchevy42]

Thanks. I like how slim that set is.

I can't think of a better test of your emergency tool kit than this experience.

The tool set is the Husky Husky149-Piece Chrome Mechanics Tools Set-69027 at The Home Depot I love those tools..