spindle / inner wheel bearing problem

[Hack]

I have a '65 F250 and I'm in the process of putting a '73 F250 front suspension on it so that I can get the dual piston front discs.

Anyway, I was replacing the rotors and one inner bearing was seized onto its spindle. I cut the cage off with some snips and heated the inner race to get the bearing off. It came off very easily with a little heat. The spindle itself looks a little dark, but there aren't any gouges in it or anything. I used some steel wool to clean it up and tried to install the new rotor.

Well the rotor doesn't easily slide on like it should. I torqued to 25 foot pounds and there are only a few threads sticking out past the nut (not enough to install the cotter pin.

So what should I do? I'd really prefer not to take the spindle off - kingpins are a royal PITA!

 

[D.Hearne]

You replaced the whole axle assembly, or you're trying to fit the 73 rotors on the 65 axles? Did you test fit the inner bearing on the axle? If it fit then, and won't now, the bearing is probably "****-eyed" and just needs a little TLC to let it slip onto the axle then way it should. Pull the rotor back of, center the bearing, then try it again.

 

[Hack]

It's a 2WD model. I replaced the entire assemblies with the I-beams, radius arms and spindles, so I wouldn't have to mess around with the kingpins. I've driven a few of them out and I didn't really enjoy it!

I tried putting the bearing on by itself, but to me it didn't seem as though it slid on as far as it should. It's possible it went on a little crooked, but I suspect that there might be an issue with the spindle itself - since the bearing I pulled off the spindle was also seized.

I will try pulling the rotor and reinstalling.

 

[pabear89]

Take some emory cloth sandpaper and polish the spindle where the bearing goes, if the prev one was siezed on it could have been the prev installers Fu.
and left a burr so that the bearing will not seat.

PB

 

[mustangdave]

Make sure u have the right inner bearing; don't trust the parts store to give u the right part.

 

[bnickel]

those are all very good suggestions but if the spindle is "dark" where the old bearing siezed i would say it is probably a very good idea to replace the spindle. i kind of wonder, though, what exactly you mean by by "dark", if it is blue/black from heat then i would say definitely replace the spindle as it has been work hardened and is likely to snap under the right conditions. of course this is just my opinion but i've had it happen to me on my old 70 cougar, let me tell you it's not fun when a spindle snaps.

 

[Hack]

Thanks for the advice. I will look at the spindle carefully and consider what to do. It's a pretty beefy part, but I want to use the pickup for towing. Having the spindle come apart while I'm towing something would not be cool. To me it didn't look like it had gotten really hot - more like there was a little corrosion on it. The bearings did spin extremely freely. They weren't seized or rumbling. I wouldn't have even pulled it apart except the rotor was too rusty to use IMO.

Emery cloth should do a lot better on a burr, if I get there, and I will dig the old inner race out of the garbage and measure it vs. the new part.

Thanks again!

 

[Hack]

Take some emory cloth sandpaper and polish the spindle where the bearing goes, if the prev one was siezed on it could have been the prev installers Fu.
and left a burr so that the bearing will not seat.

PB

The emery cloth worked like a charm. After checking the spindle more closely, I did find a small gouge on the bottom side of it. Duh, of course damage would be there.

I polished a little around the whole thing, cleaned it up and everything went together just fine. There is a bit of damage to the spindle pin, but I think I'll risk using it as is for now. If I end up doing serious long-distance towing with the vehicle, I'll probably replace the spindle at that time. I also plan on inspecting it regularly for a while when I start using the vehicle.

Thanks, for the help PB and everyone.