When you took those last pics did you have the lug nuts screwed down holding the rotor flat against the spindle?

 

i don't think it is possible to switch the calipers up. the flex hose screws into the front ones, and the hard line is what screws into the backs. I've got a buddy of mine that is a mechanic who told me I could swing by the shop he works at and use a micrometer on the rotor to measure the thickness. But I don't have anything to compare it to, or compare to what it should be. Is there anywhere on the internet that I can find those numbers? I haven't had a chance to google anything yet, just didn't know if anyone has looked this up in the past. I thought about going to the parts store though, I know they have a micrometer, and I know they have rotors that I could compare it to.

I don't see anything out of the norm that would cause the rotor to sit too far outward, or the caliper too far inward. There weren't any washers sitting between the caliper and the mounting bracket.

 

The holes in the calipers for the lines are the same size front and back so you could have switched them. The pistons in the fronts should be noticably larger than those in the rear so that should be a clue.

 

Yes. I had the lug nuts holding the rotor.

I wasn't aware that the holes were the same size for the flex hose and the hard line.

I had this suggested to me today. The bearings could have gone bad. I don't remember if this was suggested earlier in the thread. Sorry to anyone if they suggested it and I forgot about. I put just the rotor on wheel hub and placed the lug nuts on to hold it. I was told to grab the rotor and try and wiggle it. Well, it moved. About a 1/4 inch worth of movement. This makes sense as when there was no weight on it(when I had car up on jacks, took wheel off, and pads out) I could see down through the caliper and saw plenty of spacing between the rotor and caliper.

However, with the weight of the car on it, it would definitely move enough to make that caliper grind into the rotor. And the last time I pulled it out when I thought I had it fixed, it was grinding the second I pulled out of the garage onto the driveway.

What do you guys think? I've never done wheel bearings before. The premium bearings at the parts store where $32, so it wouldn't be an expensive attempt to fix the problem. Cheaper than another caliper and/or rotor.

 

Yeah that was back in the shotgun post I made, excessively loose spindle / bearing failure.
If you can grab the rotor and push/pull it more than a few thousands of an inch your bearings are gone (1/4 inch, ouch)

I'd also be looking at the spindle to see what's happened to it. As well as anything that touches it. (u-joints etc)
Are you sure 1/4" wow, wonder it didn't break off...
Anyway, Your in deep now my friend, keep diggin.

 

Either the wrong rotor ( front installed on the rear) or bent mounting flange.

 

not to get off topic but what did you paint your sidepipe covers with?

 

Mooser:
Sorry about that man. Thought that suggestion sounded familiar, but wasn't sure. I've had a lot of info come my way in the last few days. I'm sure I'm over-exaggerating on the distance of movement. It is definitely way more than a few thousands of an inch. That is absolutely for sure. What should I be looking for from here? Broken/cracked u-joints? What part of the spindle were you refering to(to look at)? Just want to know what to look for so I can get it fixed right, and don't have to do this again for a while.

7t9l82:
I can't honestly answer that. They were already on the car when I bought it. I didn't ask the guy I bought it from anything about them either. Sorry I can't be any better help than that.

 

To have that much play in the spindle the inner bearing would have to be coming apart or you have spung the inner race. Since you already have the caliper and rotor off go ahead and disconnect the halfshaft. This is the only way you can be sure about the play.
There's the very rare possibility that someone has left the cotter pin out of the flange and the spindle nut is backing off.
Mike

 

Pull the 1/2 shaft and look at the end play on the spindle (straight in and out)
Literally 10 thou. would be way too much (piece of paper is about 3 thou)
If it is loose like you say, even not exaggerated to 25 thou (1/32" is about 31 thou) your bearings are not worn, they are coming apart!
Like Mike says, check the nut, should be cotter-pined, if it's not, torque to 100 ft/lbs and check to see if everything is smooth and quiet, you might be lucky...

The outer bearing is pressed onto the spindle, then a crush sleeve and shims and then the inner bearing is pressed on, all this is torqued with the main spindle nut (hidden under the u-joint flange you will take off at the wheel with the four bolts/french locks) and that space (sleeve/shim) is very precise to set the bearings on the race which is in the hub (it's like it's opposite a front hub where the spindle is stationary)

If the bearings are more than worn, one spins on the shaft, cage comes apart and bits float around in there, etc they can damage / wear-out the spindle, the outer race hub, etc. (Take a look at some of the recent forum entries where one guy had the crush sleeve with a big chunk of it missing)

Now lets say that it (the spindle) is moving a lot, those bearings are going to be beating the races around the spindle and/or hub and the u-joint will be pounding back and forth (including the one up at the diff. end)

Realistically the yoke in the diff may have been being stuffed in and out banging on the clip and pin inside the diff.

Pull the 1/2 shaft off
Grab the spindle and pull/push straight in/out, any visible movement? Yes - tear the spindle apart and inspect everything or take it somewhere and have it done (don't drive car anymore)
No - get a dial indicator and check non-visible movement, .010" is too much - tear it apart as above
Still No? all is well and we still need to find out why the rotor touched the caliper

Check the yoke on the diff. Push in/out, here is a can of worms, search the forums and see the many many different opinions on acceptable play in the yokes. Make up your own mind and act accordingly.

I'd replace the u-joints while I had the half/shaft out just as a matter of principle.

I'd also ask that important question, if this side is like this, how's the other side?

When I went to do mine in the fall, I loosened the spindle nut and the whole spindle fell out (should have needed to be pressed out) Someone had been in there before and when they put it back together instead of pressing the bearings back on they polished the spindle undersize so they slipped on (Apparently a common thing back in the day)
By the time I looked at everything and did the goesinta's I just bought an new (rebuilt) spindle assy.

Anyway, lots of real good info on doing bearings on the forums, read up, think then decide if it's for you. (this is not the place to save a few bucks)
Mooser

 

Here's some quick dimensions you can check on the rotor

Rotor thickness should be 1-1/4" in the pad area

From the back face of the rotor down to the spindle mounting face measures pretty close to 1-13/16"


Not that is matters but from the front hub face down to the pad surface
is just over 1-13/16


I can put a mic to it if you want but these numbers should be close enough to put you in the ballpark

This is from a never-been-turned rotor, good quality replacement, rear
actual mileage may very, results not typical, etc.
Mooser

 

Thanks for the info Mooser. Gonna do some serious reading up on this, try and find out as much as I can as to wether or not this is something I should try myself. I'll keep this updated as I work my way through this.

 

Just wondering how you ended up making out with the spindles/brakes
Mooser

 

funny thing is i just had this problem over the weekend with a 98 ram. a rock had gotten wedged between the pad and rotor and has severely scratched the rotor. looks exactly like your problem. the rock eventually worked it's way all the way across the pad and was forced out. i don't know if the rotor can even be machined any more. it's pretty bad.

 

I havent had a chance to dig into it yet. Ive only had 2 days off the last two weeks, & i work 12 hour shifts. Plus on top of that, ive been sick/ feeling sick for a week now. Im hoping i can get to it this weekend, if not, i will be getting to it next week when i hopefully feel good enough to crawl around on the garage floor. I will let you know what i find when i get it apart, with pics too. Thanks for asking. Trust me, it kills me to see it not driveable when we've had some really nice days around here lately.

 

So, it ended up being the bearings that were shot. As well as the spindle. Had trouble getting spindle out, & ive got free tows with my insurance, so i got it towed to my local corvette shop.


They said the spindle fell apart after they pulled it out. Lol, im not surprised.

Anyways, its fixed now. Had them check right side & all is well, so im gonna leave it for right now. Gonna have them do some other things to it while its there.

A big thank you to everyone who helped with suggestions & what they had gone through.

Thanks to Mooser for the pics & instructions. It was a huge help.

Andy

 

Glad you're back in business (or about to be)
BTW, in case no-one has ever mentioned it...
Nice looking car.

Mooser

 

Lol. Thanks man. The tow truck driver was taking pics of it from what seemed like 10 different angles after he got it up on the truck.