Spindle And Wheel Bearings

Hi,

I am working on upgrading to disc brakes and I have a couple questions for anyone that's worked on the wheel bearings before. Does the spindle in the first picture look OK? I noticed it's a little worn in the middle, don't know if I should just replace it.

Also, is the grease in the pic below (valvoline, red tacky multi-purpose grease, NLGI 2) a good grease for the bearings? Is there something better that I should use?

I'm just trying to do this right the first time...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions / advice,

Jeff

 

The middle of the spindle doesn't really matter. Where the bearings ride do though. I can't see in the pic if those surfaces are ok. You also want the sealing areas where the hub seal rides to be clean and free of damage. There is a lock washer that goes in between those nuts that gets bent over with a tang in the groove to ensure the hub wont fall off.

Wheel bearing grease of any kind will work. I have used all types and never had any issues, but you must use the same type. Don't mix them because they may have different formulations that can cause problems.

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll make sure if I need to buy more grease it's the same. After I pulled the spindles out, I got a better look at them and they look pretty good.
When I took it apart, I did notice 2 things. One, I only had one wheel bearing on each spindle. I double and triple checked through the parts that I pulled out of the hub, and could not find a second wheel bearing for either axle. That seems odd. Especially since it drove fine, no noise, nada...
Also, when I took the 2 nuts off the spindle, there were 2 lock washers, the outer one just after the outer nut with the tab bent inward into the groove, then the inner nut, then another lock washer with the tab straight down into the groove. That's how all the diagrams i've seen show it, so I think that was OK, but I'm not sure how that keeps the nut from turning, I was able to loosen the outer nut without having to bend anything on the washer. Just want to make sure I put it back together right...
I put those 2 nuts back on the spindle to pull it off (I actually used 3, one from the other side, that was all I could get on there). I've seen a lot of posts about people trying to get that spindle out, I didn't want to wait over a week for the large socket that you use with the slide hammer to get here, so I put those nuts back on the spindle and used a puller to get the spindles out. They slid right out. I attached a picture below, hopefully this helps someone, as I'd like to contribute to this site too...

 

1 I assume you are talking about the torrington bearing inside the spindle. There is only one and the stub axle rides through it. Be sure it is in good shape (you can spin it with your finger) and lubed. There should be two seals (and a fiber/plastic washer) as well. Inspect both of them to insure they are serviceable.

2 There should be two "washers" in the wheel bearing nut set. The inner is thick and has a tab to keep it from rotating. It is designed to keep any bearing movement from being transmitted to the inner nut. The second washer is a bendable lock washer and goes between the nuts. It should also have a tab and while can be bent in either direction, is usually folded over the outer nut when the assembly is complete.
Many of us have replaced the bearing nuts with the later pin style ones.
Front End Spindle Nut Kit-Broncograveyard.com

 

Not the spindle bearing, the actual tapered wheel bearing in the hub. I only had one on each side. I just found out about the spindle bearing and now I gotta find those too. I just watched a video on the spindle nuts / washers, he bent the washer over the nut once it was all torqued (50 ft/lb). Mine wasn't like that when I took it apart I could almost turn the nuts by hand. Good thing I'm doing all this...

 

Inner: LM603049/LM603011
Outer: Set 45, LMLM501349/LM501310

50 ft/lbs would appear to me to be WAY to tight on the spindle nut. I just tighten these until I can feel no play-closer to your finger tight. Your spindle bearing seats in the photo appear ok to me but you should not have any appreciable play when you slide the bearings over it. The seal seat condition isn't obvious.

 

I don't see how you could be missing two wheel bearings, one on each side, and still drive the Jeep.

 

Have you checked the back side of the hub, the bearing may still be there behind the seal.

 

This.

 

I agree, that seems to be an error. I do it a little different.

I torque them down hard to be sure everything is solidly seated, then back off. Tight enough that free rotation of the wheel is slightly impaired. Then back off one or two flats, until the wheel spins freely again, without drag.

IMHO, the wheel and hub assembly should be just at the point that there is the tiniest, almost imperceptible, amount of play when shaken hard. Not "tight", but if you have measurable looseness, it is too loose.

 

To me, it's quite apparent you have overlooked the inner wheel bearing hidden behind the inner hub grease seal. Take your hub and slide it onto the spindle. Install one of the spindle nut hand tight. Take ahold of the hub and give it a quick jerk hard against the spindle nut. It will probably take a couple of times but the hub will come off the spindle leaving behind the inner bearing and it's seal. Clean things up, grease the bearings, install rear hub seal and reassemble when ready.

 

this

 

"When I took it apart, I did notice 2 things. One, I only had one wheel bearing on each spindle. I double and triple checked through the parts that I pulled out of the hub, and could not find a second wheel bearing for either axle. That seems odd. Especially since it drove fine, no noise, nada..."

Guess I took him for his words.
Could be he doesn't see it inside the hub.

 

Yeah I could've missed it I guess... I'm not reusing the hub, as I 'm converting to disc brakes and that came with it's own hub, etc., so I really didn't bother to clean the old one up.
One of the spindles is missing the seal, and the bearings look and feel a little worn. I just ordered bearing / seal kits from Napa, it'll mean a couple more days torn apart but that's OK, better safe than sorry.
I also took apart the axle u-joints, I'm glad I did that, the needle bearings all just fell out, dry as a bone. Replacing with greasable u-joints.
Thank you guys a lot for the help/advice, as you see from my username I'm new at this. I'm learning a lot...

 

is it an o

pen or closed knuckle axle? if it's closed, it won't be greaseable.

 

Open knuckles. A real joy to get apart, I might add. You can see the needles from the bearings by the vise, they just fell right out.

 

why are the open knuckles so hard to get apart? it seemsa from your pictures that you didn't event take the knuckles apart, just took the shafts out. what year is it?

 

Oops, I meant the axle shaft u joints. Been a long day...

Its a '72

 

Two reasons.
First, crust and crud builds up around, then into the slip fit between the knuckle and the spindle, effectively "welding" the two together. Removing the spindle then involves a puller. I made one like this out of an old spindle socket and nut.
D44 Spindle Puller, D30, D44-Broncograveyard.com
Secondly, the spindle bearings are NEVER serviced. This means the spindles haven't been removed for years, allowing the crust and crud issue to get worse and worse.
A clean, well serviced spindle will tap off with a soft hammer.

 

Hi all,

Reviving this thread for one more question, I am putting the spindles back on and I have a set of bolts with round heads / one flat side and locknuts (all new, grade 8), but trying to tighten them is extremely challenging, there's really nothing to hold them behind from turning, ive tried different size screwdrivers, worked on a few but not on others, just really no where to apply leverage. Any tips? I have a feeling it's something simple that's just not coming to me. Some of them don't look like they're going all the way thru / seating properly, I guess maybe when I do get to the point where I can torque them to like 40 ft/lb they will seat themselves? When I took the old ones out I had to drive them out with a punch so didn't really see how they were put it. Is the flat part supposed to go on a specific side? From what I see behind the knuckle it doesn't really seem to matter where the flat ends up.
Probably seems like a dumb question but it's really important to me that the spindles are mounted properly. I usually get this kind of info off youtube, like I did for most of the other work I've done, but I can't find anything that covers this online.
Thanks in advance for any advice, this site is really helpful.