What to replace? Front wheel almost came off while driving

[DAmatt]

Since yesterday I began to feel a slight grinding noise, and today a pop, car instantly turned to the right, then serious grinding, and screeching. Luckily I was close to home, and nursed the car in the garage.

lifted the car, and I could move the wheel any way I wanted. Never saw so much play in a wheel, and it still be attached!

Here is a short clip of me moving the disc around at will:

https://youtu.be/-BsP9WR7bLY


I think I have an idea as to what needs to be done, but being still a novice, I believe it is wise to first ask here for opinions, seasoned veterans might very well know things I am missing.

So could you kindly state your opinion as to what the heck happened, what is probably busted, and what should I order?

I need to find a socket for the wheel nut, my 24mm is too small, and 27mm too big. Do you know what size socket I need to search for? I think it would be in imperial units, like 1 inch?

[timmycharger]

The rotors look fairly new, when was that work done? It looks as though when putting the rotor back, whoever did it forgot to put the bearings back in or put them in with way too much play and they basically destroyed them. 

Not sure of the size of that nut but I can assure you it is not metric.

[b5blue]

JEEZ WTF! Wow bearing failed too tight or too loose? Replace spindle rotor bearings as all over stressed.    Use adjustable wrench.

[70 sublime]

Might want to check the other front wheel too

[Mike DC]

Yep, looks like a wheel bearing failure or bad install.

The question is how much else is damaged in the aftermath.  Spindle snout, etc. 

And yes, check the other side. 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Bearing failure.   You need to replace ALL (both sides) the bearings/races at a minimum.  Hopefully there isnt damage to the spindle as well.  You'll know more when taking off.   That looks like an aftermarket disc kit.  Do you know the mfg for the correct bearing size to order?   If not you should be able to see the bearing numbers on the bearings themselves....

The nut requires only a large adjustable wrench

[DAmatt]

I've attached some pics... it was a slaughter. Thanks goodness it failed at 5mph instead of 90.

the washer welded itself to the bearing. the rollers of the outer bearing are again welded to the inner part.

I can't get the outer bearing off the spindle, any ideas?

Brakes are from the 73+ mopars, ordered a bearing set from dr diff.

How do I tell if there is damage to the spindle? Is it a case of if you don't see it, there's no damage? (I sure hope so!)

[CRW-FK5]

Was there a stamped nut cover and cotter pin installed in there to keep the nut from coming off?  All I saw in the video was the nut on the spindle.

[DAmatt]

yes, although the crenelations on the nut cover were bent, so the cotter pin would not have had something to block it from .oving around. Where do I find a new nut cover? And I also need a washer...

I took a grinder to what was left of the outer bearing, I think it is welded to the spindle. I am afraid to grind further, not to go into the spindle. I posted a pic below:

[b5blue]

The spindle MUST be replaced! The heat has tempered the end and changed the strength of it. 

[green69rt]

The spindle MUST be replaced! The heat has tempered the end and changed the strength of it.  

Something caused the bearing to fail.  when that happens the bearing races break, allowing the rollers to drop out, then the spindle is resting on the disk hub and it starts to go.  No hope to save any of those parts.  AND, I would definitely check the other side and anything else that was done by that mechanic.

Yeap, looks like you need;
New disk,
spindle
bearings w/races
nut, nut retainer, cotter pin.
maybe new break caliper, bolts and pads.

wow, I would count myself lucky if that happened to me and that's all the damage.


call this guy, He can lead you by the hand if needed.  If he doesn't have it, he may be able to tell you where to get it.

https://www.doctordiff.com/contact.html
(406) 646-6727

[DAmatt]

So I am both extremely unlucky, and very, very lucky at the same time...

When it failed, I was traveling at a very low speed, and drove about 2 miles. Does it matter, or no matter what the spindle & rotor are toast?

And if the latter is the case, basically it's just like installing a new brake kit?

P.S.: Just now I realized I posted the topic in the wrong sections, I kindly ask the admins to move it to the right place

[DAmatt]

So, a month after this happened, all of the parts finally arrived. You have it SOOO easy with parts over there!

Had to wait for a plain 11" rotor for ages... funny, the internet says you can get them anywhere.

What I got was the correct 2 sets of Timken bearings, seals & caps from Dr Diff, one 73- 11" rotor, one 73- spindle, and 2 sets of nuts, cotter pins, and washers.

On the side the wheel came off, I am replacing the rotor & spindle also. Current trouble is I cannot get the spindle off the upper arm bolt thingy.

It doesn't screw in so it should theoretically just fall off. Tried knocking it off with a chisel & hammer to no avail.

Any suggestions? I don't want to have to get the upper arm off.

[70 sublime]

If you look at your replacement part you might be able to see that the hole has a taper to it so it is just wedged into position
Will take a good wack to get it apart
Do you have a ball joint spliter ?
A wedge shaped tool that you can drive into the space to get it apart

You might have to let the torsion bar down some to help ?

[Gold Rush]

Since you did not mention upper ball joint replacement I'm guessing you'd like to save them.  Ball joint separators are not kind to the joint and seal.

I have seen/hear of using a large hammer on the spindle back side acting as an anvil and a good size ball-peen hammer to give the spindle an couple really hard whacks.     

You are replacing the spindle so if need be you could cut and split it to relive the tapered grab effect.

[b5blue]

That removal tool is like a big bolt and nut that fits between the ball joints. By expanding it puts extreme pressure on the upper ball joint.
https://www.manciniracing.com/upbajostre1.html

[AKcharger]

You might have to let the torsion bar down some to help ?

Having the correct too is ALWAYS the best way to go but if  tool is unavailable I've had success with the above method
1) Place jack under lower control arm and carfully raise it up a bit CAUTION: do not raise car off jack stands!
2) Reconnect spindle  to lower ball joint and  SLOWLY lower control arm  while giving the sides of the spindle firm taps with a hammer.

Since parts have been installed recently I'd give you an 85% chance my method will work 

[375instroke]

Make sure you knock out those Chinese bearing races that come installed on the new rotors, and install the ones that come with the Timken bearings.

[DAmatt]

I did just that, I was soo tempted to just use the outer race, but I read that bearings come in matching sets, which seems logical.

Speaking of which, I installed the seal the wrong way, after watching therammaninc's video with the large lip toward the inner part of the hub, and when I tried to pry it out, I damaged the inner part of the timken bearing. What I want to ask is, are the timken bearings matched individually to each race, or can one use the outer race from an identical timken bearing? I am asking this because I knocked out the Chinese race, pressed in the timken race, then after damaging the cone, I put the other timken bearing in the race. For the other side I used a National bearing I had as a spare. What do you guys thing about National products?

I then wanted to tighten the nut on the spindle, but the torque wrench I got that was supposed to work for 90lbin did not, so I tightened the nut by hand, till it naturally stopped, then added about 1/6 turn with the wrench. Rotor would turn for about 1.2-1.5 rotations before stopping. Is that good?

One more question, can the bearing races be pressed too deep, i.e. the rotor is closer to the body than it should be? The grease cap lip sits just shy of the rotor hub, like 1mm (google converted to 39 thousands of an inch, which I see you guys use)

Anyway, notwhidthstanding the above caveats, I think the job is done, thank you all for pointing me in the right direction.

Next will be to actually grease the ball joints, and tie rod ends, which have been installed with no grease, luckily I saw it in time. It seems I will have to go through everything myself to make sure it is right.

[375instroke]

I'm sure the only way to get the race in accurately is to ram it home, making sure it sits firmly against the machined end of the rotor.  Your torque sounds fine.  Pack your bearings well.