The closest I can get with my spindle setup tool and spacer and shim kit is .0015 on one side .000 on the other with just a smichen of end play there. I'm happy with the .0015 but worried about the other. The setup tool spindle spins freely when torqued to 100 fpt, is that going to be OK? The nest size shim down is too tight, and the next largest too loose.

 

ones too loose and the other could be tighter then the .000 its showing. i target .001-.002. van steel makes custom shims. you just gotta call and tell them the thickness you need. i had a set that was way off like yours.. i swapped the shims and i was then in spec..doesn't always work that way but you might wanna try.

 

The book spec is 001-008" which is a "mile" wide for this application. Then you will read all over the place that 002 is the magical number, set them to 002 on the setup tool or home made setup tool, install them and you have 005" end play. Lay the assemble arm on the bench with the rotor on the arm and press at 3-9 o'Clock and feel rock with hand pressure. That may be good for most first timers but it is really not a good job.

Before I stopped going to Carlisle I would walk the aisles looking at things and always looked at the rebuilt arms on the tables for sale. These ranged from bearings set so tight you could not move them to free wheeling bearing with a lot of endplay. What was better was when the guys selling them would start their sales pitch and I would ask one simple question- " what method was used to set the bearings up?" Most were clueless and since they had to come up with an answer reverted the ageless answer- " They are setup stock" I have heard that since I was a kid and first started to ask questions- never got a reasonable answer other then that.

The shim kits sold by everyone come with 2 spacers and about 6 shims if I recall. The spacers are better, yup I said that, better then originals since they are counterbored machined parts. The shims are fine too only they come in about 003 increments and just about all the time will not allow the bearing setup to be as it should be. You will end up with too loose or too tight. If you shoot for the 001-008 spec they will be fine. Keep in mind at 003" you can push and pull the axle in/out. With a 65-82 you need to be better then that for the best setup. The only way to get the best setup is to seat the bearings and then grind the shims to size to just remove lateral play , who cares about endplay at that point. When properly done there will not be any lateral play and your endplay will still be between 001-002". An interesting note, when I get to 002 for the first time, there is still play in the bearings laterally. I will grind off 0005-003" more to dial them in and that endplay will still be 002". This is better explained when I can show the whole process during one of my seminars and there is a whole procedure for doing these that I am frankly getting tired of writing out. A surface grinder is the tool really needed to do them right, you can hand lap shims on a flat plate or glass. That will work but might take as much time as it will for my 401k to come back. As Custer said, "where did everyone go"

Then there are those that take them apart, install new bearings and reuse the spacers and shims as is. I have been sent plenty of rebuild arms to find missing shims or cheap bearings used and they were equal to those arms I used to see at Carlisle. Speaking of which will there even be any swap meets this year?

Good luck

 

Thanks guys, I think I will custom fit a thick shim for the loose side to be the same as the 0 end play side.

 

The best setup on taper bearings is with the correct preload. The problem doing a setup that way is that you can't just measure preload with a dial indicator so it's not recommended to do it that way.