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Just for discussion , and I realize that there's "more than one way to skin a cat", but if I were doing a number of these I would consider creating a mandrel tool that would chuck in the lathe and probably involve the lathes' tail-stock also, this accurately locating the item off the splined bore, somewhat as you have it in your third photo but rather the flange being spaced away from the chuck-jaws for greater access, this so that all of the machining operations (facing the snout-stop, cleaning-up the shank, facing the flange, even establishing the register) potentially could be done in one set-up, this reducing the tolerance stacking inevitable of multiple set-ups (eliminating any surface grinder operation), not to mention it'd be more quickly executed, that is, after one had completed the task of the fixturing tooling creation of course.

Of course, one of the big issues is that what we are actually doing is just "cleaning-up" the already machined surfaces as presented by the manufacturer, which may present their own tolerance issues, and this doesn't provide for much material removal and remain within a reasonable specification, and at the same time also attempting to rectify damage incurred since, and if we try to hard to make things right, we may find that not many of the cores prove suitable for such action, so this also would have to taken into account.

Scott.

 

Can anyone comment on how loose or tight the splines should be between the flange and the spindle? And what symptoms might be noticeable if the spline fit was bad?

I've got a 4 speed 1980 that I've been restoring with a new noise I'm trying to diagnose.

This winter I did a lot of rear suspension work (in an effort to get all the 44 year old rubber out) so I had the trailing arms rebuilt, new rubber in strut rods, new u-joints in the half shafts, 355# mono leaf spring, and diff oil change (yes I used GM fluid and posi additive). Work done by myself except the TA rebuild. I now hear a very noticeable PING! Ping ping ping as I start to move forward, or start to reverse. It's something in the rear driveline as torque is winding up. It goes away quickly and then may do it again on an upshift, or sometimes a downshift. Does it with wheels straight in the garage, or on a turn going down the road. If I'm on a hill and let the clutch out with gear going in same direction of the hill, it won't ping, because it's not winding up torque. Noise is equally loud from both sides, and sounds like its right in the center of the wheel axle.

I was very careful to install the new u-joints correctly and check for free rotation, so I don't think it's that. We're going to try replacing the TA flanges next week. I hate to do that because the car only has 14,000 miles at this point (bought last year from original owner) and I wouldn't expect the original GM flanges to be worn. I'm open to suggestions!

Quick note, this is my first time posting. This forum has been a huge help and I'm especially thankful for the good technical info like GTR1999 has posted here.

rear suspension rebuilt this winter

 

On a public forum I would rather not say who rebuilt the TA's because I don't want to put them in potential bad light. They're a reputable specialty shop, local to me, and have been working with me to address the issue.

The spindle hub face was resurfaced during the TA rebuild. Upon first test in January, I found that the slight material removal on the hub face made the caliper casting rub slightly on the inside face of rotor. I used a die grinder to shorten the casting nub on the caliper and that fixed the grinding noise I was having. I say that only FYI as I'm sure that has nothing to do with the current pinging noise I have on both sides.

Parking brake was our first thought. We reset and re-adjusted PB with no change in noise. We didn't remove the rotor to inspect the PB parts. The Powerstop rotor and pads I installed last summer have been great. Didn't have this noise last fall before the rebuild.