Hello all, I am currently replacing the rear bearings in my '74. I read all the posts I could find on the topic including the write up by GTR1999. I bought a new spindle from Duntov Motors along with their set up tools and new bearings. When I set them up with the tool I had about .002-.003 end play which I thought was pretty good. But when I installed the actual spindle the bearings were so tight I couldn't even turn it.
I then diassembled and installed the largest shim I had and it is still way too tight and I haven't even torqued it yet.
Any idea what I could be doing wrong?
I used a press on the outer bearing, is it possible to press it on too far?
I am suspicious of the spindle itself since when I got it the half shaft flange would not go down on the splines at all. I had to press it on and off several times to loosen it up.
Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks,

Travis

 

if end play is correct with the set up tool, and you are using the correct selective shims and bearing you set up with at that time of installation, then it must me an issue with bearing/spindle installation itself. i am basing this on the fact that the distance between the bearings would have had to of changed in order for there to be a difference between end play achieved using the setup tool and actual installation. im just guessing of course.

 

Some possible reasons
1-using the common shims in a kit
2-not parallel grinding all mating parts
3-cups not fully seated or chip under them.
4- damage to the bearings if the spindle was removed after initial install
5- flange should slide on without a problem,unless you're fitting 31 spline axles.

 

Thanks for the input guys, I agree that something must have changed between set up and install but I'll be darned if I can find what it is.
I will double check the cup fitment but I was pretty careful with it the first time.
I am using the standard shim kit, but when I installed it with the largest shim I thought that I would have alot of end play not zero! Have you ever encountered one that needed a larger shim than supplied in the kit?
The flange slides on easily now, but it did not at first. I am still not convinced that the spindle was machined correctly.... I will be calling the vendor later today to discuss.

 

Most of the shim kits I see are overpriced crap. I never use them, strictly machine the shims to size.
There are spindles made in the USA- Spencer Forge or import spindles. I have used both and have not seen either with bad splines. However, anything is possible.
If the endplay is too tight the shim is to thin. How does the spacer faces look?

 

unfortunatly I do not have the equipment to machine my own shims, so I am stuck with the available sizes.
The spacer looked really good, nice and flat on each end.

 

If you bought the bearing set-up tool that's great. You set-up your bearings DRY (NO GREASE) and checked end play. You got the .002-.003" end play. Thats great also. Now this is where I feel you have a problem. When installing the spindle, you should have packed the bearings with grease, put a light coat of grease on the inner area of the bearing support housing as a protectant. NO need to fill it up, that does no good at all. It does not spin like the front hubs. Install your spacer, shim and seals. So now your bearing support housing has ALL the parts installed as required. Now you stated that you used press install the outer bearing? That is wrong. If so how did you get the outer seal to seat, much aggreviation i'm sure, after the spindle was installed.
When in the manuals they write "press". They do not mean a hydraulic press. They mean a special press that is threaded to the spindle and "pulls" the spindle through the parts that you have installed in the bearing support housing. They also state that you TORQUE the nut on the installation "press" to 100 lbs/ft, just like what you should have used when you were setting up you bearings when they were DRY. Then you remove the spindle installation tool or "press" and install the washer and tighten the nut to 90 lbs/ft and then tighten further so you can align the nut for the cotter pin.
If you are using a hydraulic press, how can you make sure that you are getting the torque correct if you are not using a torque wrench?
I do these quite often, and I use GM spacers and shims that I have a machine shop lightly modify the spacers so I have the ability to "dial " in the run-out where I want it.
You may have "pooched" your bearings and spindle, maybe not.
BUT...you do need to buy the spindle installation tool to do it correctly. If you don't you will be one of those guys whose trailing arms (bearings) I have to repair because of it not being correctly in the first place.
I have seen the spindles be warped due to the incorrect "pressing" method and when I index them on my bench center, I can show the owner that the main shaft is true. But now the flange where the wheel studs are is now out of specs and will cause for MAJOR problems in the calipers because it is out by as much as .007 -.015" in many cases...some even more than that. And that reading is taken at the outer flat area of the spindle, and that "warp" dimension will only get worse the farther out you go to where the calipers mount. The reading should be about .001" to .0015", any more than that and I will question the manufacturer.
And yes I am sure that some of you may question, "What if your castle nut is just past the cotter pin hole in the spindle, and I have to turn it further to the next notch in the castle nut, won't that make it have more torque than the 100 lbs/ft I had set it to originally?" My answer is YES. But if you have good parts and parts were set up correctly, and installed as required, that added torque will not change the settings.
If correctly performed, the spindles should spin freely with a slight drag, (depending on what type of grease you are using).
Hope that this helped.
"DUB"

 

FYI, I found the problem.
Grandmastercorvette, you were very close with your comments about the seal. I did not have it installed all the way and the spindle was binding up on it. When I pushed it down further with a big screwdriver the whole assembley freed up and the end play returned.
I was following a tip in an old Guldstrand article from the early 80's, in which he pressed the outer bearing on first and then pushed the seal on with a screwdriver after everything was assembled.
Now that I solved the problem and buggered everything up I am going to start over with new seals and bearings, this time drawing the spindle through with the install tool.

thanks again to all who posted with suggestions!
Travis

 

Glad to hear you found it. Check those spacers faces when you get them apart. I installed bearings like that a few time but no more. Very easy to damage the seal that way if you don't watch it.
I have one of those tools as well and keep it with the spindle press, in a box, never used. The bearings can be pressed on as long as you are backing up the spindle and pressing on the inner race. When pressing on the inner bearing,again go against the inner race and you're pressing against complete solid surfaces, inner race,shim,spacer, outer brg inner race, remove and torque to 100 ft/lbs and you should be where you set up at. If the nut hole is off more then a flat just dress the flat of the nut a little to reindex it on the spindle.
Good job.

 

I am glad that you found the problem of the binding issue. Many many years ago I tried doing it the way that you did it and gave up after several failed attempts and was forced to have the correct tools. I figured that I could do it a better way and found out that there really is only one "easy" way of installing the spindle, by using the installation tool.
I know the feeling you will have when you know that you have it "right".
"DUB"