Front Spindle - Bearing Grooves

[dm289]

Do most front spindles end up getting grooved eventually???

After reading about this I decided to check mine, the driver's was grooved and the passenger side is starting to get some scratches.... I also have a set of Granada Spindles, I checked them... same thing, they are both grooved... honestly in all my years of working on cars I never considered or noticed this... are these spindles useable??? Do they make a repair sleeve like they do for crankshafts? Any feedback is appreciated...

 

[AzPete]

Is it on the surface where the bearing sits? I have not had ones looking like that....most of them you can see some machining marks where the bearing does not sit but it is smooth where the bearing rides at.

 

[monkeystash]

Bearings don't ride that area, just either side where it's smooth. I've always seen some sort of grooves or machine marks there. No problem, normal.

 

[dm289]

Is it on the surface where the bearing sits? I have not had ones looking like that....most of them you can see some machining marks where the bearing does not sit but it is smooth where the bearing rides at.

Yes it is on the flat surface where the back of the bearing rides... the grooves are deep enough to catch my thumbnail when run over...

 

[AzPete]

Looks like an old bearing came apart and gouged the surface. The bearing should not ride there....stick one on and see if it clears. If nothing rubs anywhere, I would run with it.

 

[dm289]

Looks like an old bearing came apart and gouged the surface. The bearing should not ride there....stick one on and see if it clears. If nothing rubs anywhere, I would run with it.

So are you saying the bearing does not bottom out against the rear surface? The one I indicated with a yellow arrow? I can understand about a bearing going back and doing this, but I always assumed the bearing was forced against this surface and the pre-load was done with the nut...

 

[monkeystash]

Sorry, I think we thought you were talking about the center of the spindle in between the bearings. The seal probably made that ridge you are pointing too. That wouldn't concern me.

 

[AzPete]

I believe the bearing is preloaded against the taper of the spindle. Been a day or two since I have been inside one......

 

[Ponyman66]

The two areas of concern are the bearing surface ("flat" area of the spindle shaft) and the seal surface. The seal surface eventually gets a groove worn in it and the seal will no longer effectively seal out contaminates. One of yours shows some very minor wear on the seal surface, but based on the photo, still totally usable. The bearing surfaces also appear usable, though they both show some very minor past galling. You can clean them up with some very fine sand paper or crocus cloth. Also appear to be totally usable. The area in the photo with the area was probably caused by an inner bearing race and most likely the same one which galled the spindle itself. No big concern.

 

[jmlay]

My guess is a bearing went bad & caused the inner race to spin on the spindle. Slide a new bearing on & see if there is any slop in the fit. IF not & the seal surface is good I would run it.