Spindle Thread Restoral, What Size Threads?

[Supercharged111]

Well that's not good.

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New bearings and races into the passenger side, test drive good, time to send it down the road.

 

[Road Trip]

Passenger side zero preload, isn't the correct answer to back it off and pin it?

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It was tightened down to the next window.

Nice fix on both sides of the front end on that truck!

And yes, just like you stated, after making sure the bearings & races
are fully seated, you do back it off & pin it. (When I was into the rear drums
on my full floater, I found plenty of confidently shared misinfo floating
around on the interwebs. Finally I found a Timken bearing video that
agreed exactly with the FSM -- details in this post over here.)

NOTE: In the Timken video they were very clear about having a few
thousandths of lateral play (measured with a dial indicator) when the
bearing was pre-loaded to the sweet spot. Definitely not the 'tightened
down to the next window' that you uncovered.

Anyway, the Timken video is a good <4 minute watch for anyone reading this
who wants to bone up on how to set up tapered roller bearings for a long, quiet life.

Nice job sharing the documentation of how misadjusted wheel bearings can
lead to so much damage/unsafe to drive 2WD GMT400. Good, solid fix!

 

[Erik the Awful]

The real problem is that castle nuts and cotter pins can't be installed to an optimum setting. You always have to compromise to the "closest" hole.

I typically tighten them down and loosen just enough to get a cotter pin in, but I've had a front end where that gave me 1/8" play in the toe setting. I tighten and back off for a cotter pin, but if I can feel play, I tighten to the next opportunity to pin. I haven't trashed a bearing yet doing it that way.

Fords have multi-layer stacked spindle nuts that don't have a cotter pin. You tighten it down to torque and you're done. I'm not sure if I like them or not. I'll know more when I figure out what's going loose in the front of my Mustang.

My '83 RX-7 had a tin cap that went over the spindle nut and the cotter pin held it in place - like described in that Timken video. The cutouts were unevenly spaced so that you could always find a way to pin the spindle nut right where you wanted it. I think it's the optimum solution.

 

[Hipster]

The real problem is that castle nuts and cotter pins can't be installed to an optimum setting. You always have to compromise to the "closest" hole.

I typically tighten them down and loosen just enough to get a cotter pin in, but I've had a front end where that gave me 1/8" play in the toe setting. I tighten and back off for a cotter pin, but if I can feel play, I tighten to the next opportunity to pin. I haven't trashed a bearing yet doing it that way.

Fords have multi-layer stacked spindle nuts that don't have a cotter pin. You tighten it down to torque and you're done. I'm not sure if I like them or not. I'll know more when I figure out what's going loose in the front of my Mustang.

My '83 RX-7 had a tin cap that went over the spindle nut and the cotter pin held it in place - like described in that Timken video. The cutouts were unevenly spaced so that you could always find a way to pin the spindle nut right where you wanted it. I think it's the optimum solution.

My trailer axles have the tin covers... much better setup.

 

[Hipster]

Nice fix on both sides of the front end on that truck!

And yes, just like you stated, after making sure the bearings & races
are fully seated, you do back it off & pin it. (When I was into the rear drums
on my full floater, I found plenty of confidently shared misinfo floating
around on the interwebs. Finally I found a Timken bearing video that
agreed exactly with the FSM -- details in this post over here.)

NOTE: In the Timken video they were very clear about having a few
thousandths of lateral play (measured with a dial indicator) when the
bearing was pre-loaded to the sweet spot. Definitely not the 'tightened
down to the next window' that you uncovered.

Anyway, the Timken video is a good <4 minute watch for anyone reading this
who wants to bone up on how to set up tapered roller bearings for a long, quiet life.

Nice job sharing the documentation of how misadjusted wheel bearings can
lead to so much damage/unsafe to drive 2WD GMT400. Good, solid fix!

Didn't watch the video but the way it was explained at I-Car classes is that it's better to have a little free play then to have them too tight and go negative clearance when at operating temp.

 

[Erik the Awful]

In my opinion, toe change = too much play.

 

[Schurkey]

Spindles had multiple systems to achieve adequate free-play. The two most-common in my experience:

Some spindles were double-drilled, if one cotter-pin hole had too much--or too little free play, the other cotter pin hole would be perfect. Seems like most folks never figured out that there was a second hole, because they never properly cleaned the grease out of the end of the spindle.

Some had a stamped-sheet-steel multi-castellated "nut" that slid over the actual adjusting nut. The stamped-steel deal could be installed in any one of several positions so that the castellations could be lined-up with the cotter pin hole no matter how the adjusting nut was positioned.

And of course, the early drum-brake Toronado/Eldorado front wheel bearings were common, ordinary (big) wheel bearings with ordinary races. Set 17, maybe, two per side. Cheap and easy to find. Problem was, when used on a Toro/Eldo, you bought the two bearings plus a precision-machined spacer in a package deal, as a Set 23, about four times the cost of the two individual bearings. The "adjuster" nut on the end of the CV joint got torqued to spec, with the bearing free-play set by that precision-machined spacer.

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Been years since I've dicked with my Toro. The later disc-brake hubs used a different bearing assembly. I've kinda forgotten the details.

 

[Supercharged111]

Here's the inner race from the passenger side, rollers were pitted.

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Note that the passenger side took a few years to fail.

 

[Road Trip]

Here's the inner race from the passenger side, rollers were pitted.

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Note that the passenger side took a few years to fail.

Between what you found & fixed on both sides you've pretty much achieved Guardian Angel
status for your elderly customer.

Not to mention that his truck must drive 100% better now. :0)

 

[classman]

There

I've got a 97 C1500 in my garage with a pretty new rotor that's trashed. The threads are a little boogered up and I'm not getting them 100% here with the thread file. It's a 1.25mm pitch and the threads are just over 19mm in diameter. Would this be a 19x1.25 or 20x1.25 die? Any other tips or tricks on getting the threads 100%? Whoever did this the last time didn't get the bearing preload correct because you can't feel anything with the threads as they are. Could I get another nut and cut grooves in it to clean these threads?

There are no 19mm threads. They are either 18mm or 20mm. If your spindle thread's outside diameter (major diameter) is less than 20mm and just above 19mm, that means the thread is 20x1.25 and it's partially damaged.