Wheel Bearing & Spindle Wear

Clois Harlan · #1 (**permalink**) 05-23-2005, 01:54 PM

I recently completed my pre-race checks and I noticed I had some "slop" in my front MII wheel bearings. Naturally, I replaced inner and outer wheel bearings on the front hubs. I couldn't tighten my spindle nut up on either side to eliminate the slack in my front wheels with them on the ground or jacked up. I ordered a new set of Mustang II front spindles and they should be in today.

My question would be:
How often shoud you replace the spindles on a car that is open tracked 4 or 5 times a year?

Thanks,

Clois Harlan

2KWIK4U · #2 (**permalink**) 05-23-2005, 03:18 PM

Clois
Man, I would think your spindles would last for years or at least a couple hundred thousand miles. Since the bearing doesn't actually rotate on the spindle there shouldn't be any wear, unless they've locked up and spun at some point. I assume that you changed the races when you replaced the bearings. Since the bearings are tapered, I would put a flat washer between the nut and the tang washer and see if that out the slop. I wouldn't run it that way, but it would verify wheater its the spindle or hub. My hubs are aluminum and there may be some wear/damage there.

Brad W.

Clois Harlan · #3 (**permalink**) 05-23-2005, 06:35 PM

Brad,

I pulled my brake hub off and noticed some silver grease and that is all wrong. I will be replacing the spindles and bearings tomorrow. When I race it I run it into the corners pretty hard and that may be the reason or I may have not got them tight enough the last time I had them off. I have never worn out spindles before.

I am just trying to get everything in order before my first race in a couple of weeks. I decided to go ahead and replace my upper and lower ball joints and my tie rod ends while I have everything apart. I don't like to hit walls! By the way how do you like your TKO 600?

Clois

coyled · #4 (**permalink**) 05-26-2005, 09:59 AM

Clois, make sure you check the id of the bearing and the od of the spindle. I could never get mine as tight as I would like with out over tightening them. The problem was a bearing with an id .005 smaller than the od of the spindle. Hope this helps. Scott

coyled · #5 (**permalink**) 05-26-2005, 10:08 AM

Clois, I ment to say the id of the bearing was .005 bigger than the od of the spindle. Sorry, Scott.

Clois Harlan · #6 (**permalink**) 05-31-2005, 07:47 AM

After putting on new spindles and bearings I went back and checked the ID and OD as you suggested and WALLA. You hit the nail on the head about .006 difference in the old bearing and spindle set up.

Thanks,

Clois

coyled · #7 (**permalink**) 05-31-2005, 01:20 PM

At least you know what the problem was and what to look for in the furture. Scott

DaveR · #8 (**permalink**) 04-01-2006, 12:28 PM

This is an old thread but I have some experience with this problem. Everything above is true, but I notice that nothing is mentioned about the OD of the bearing, especially the outer, which represents half the potential for wheel movement. You would be amazed how often a bearing race gets spun inside the hub/rotor assembly, even on a non-performance street vehicle. Once it spins, there is a tendency to overtighten to eliminate slop, which causes more wear, which leads to more overtightening......

Clois Harlan · #9 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 12:54 PM

Dave,

I just came back to this thread and went out to the garage and pulled my old bearings to look at the race. There was some minimal wear but not enough to cause the problem I was having. Glad you brought that up as it is another possibility of a loose wheel bearing.

I have not had to tighten my wheel bearings in almost a year now so I hope that problem has gone away for good.

Clois