Front Wheel Bearing Won't Fit on Spindle

[dsenatore]

Having a tough time here with a new set of Timken inner wheel bearings, Set 37 on my '76 D44 w/stock front disc brakes. New bearings from Bronco vendor. Passenger side went on fine but on the drivers side the inner bearing got hung up on the spindle. Tried to gently persuade the assembly with block o wood and hammer. Put up resistance so I stopped. Pulled assembly off(took some effort) and it left the seal and inner bearing on the spindle. Used a puller to get the bearing off - it went on @ 3/8" and came off pretty easily with the puller. Thought my spindle was the problem as it looked like it may have some issues. Ordered new spindle and another new bearing. Put spindle on and tried to see if the new bearing would slide on before installing in hub - again, no go. Tried the first new bearing for kicks and it wouldn't go either. Seems like the same issue. Both bearings seem to have the same degree of resistance. Any ideas here? Vendor was closed for the day but will try tomorrow.
BTW, I am not mixing up the outer bearing with the inner bearing(Set 45). Below are a couple pics of the old spindle, you can see where the bearing went on and appeared to smooth out some anomalies which is why I thought the spindle may be suspect.
Thanks,
David

 

[thegreatjustino]

Put the hub and bearing on from the other side and see what happens.

 

[DirtDonk]

Neither one of those looks like a new spindle. The new one you got is actually "new" and not just another used one?
Not that it's a big deal, as it should still fit, but I wondered.

They're often tight, and very often require quite a bit of finesse to fit up because of being such a precisely machined (hopefully) pair of surfaces.
But to actually dig into, or deform the spindle journal is not normal for sure.

Both spindles actually look like they could use a good dressing down to clean them up, but I would not think you'd need to take down much material in order to get a bearing to fit.
If they were my spindles I'd take some crocus cloth, emery cloth, or 400+ grit sandpaper and gently smooth down the surface to make sure there are not an pits or distortions that could grab the bearing race.

Curious though why you were putting the seal on? Were you trying it on for size before pressing it into the back of the hub, to make sure it would work? Something give you the idea it would not, or just being cautious?
Same for the bearing. Test fitting before installing it in the hub?

One reason I ask that is because it's often easier to manhandle the bearing into position with the leverage and weight of the hub and drum/rotor helping things along.
Obviously you got the other side on without drama, so it does seem strange that one won't work. Do you happen to have a caliper you can measure the two components (well, four now with the new parts) with?
What about trying the non-fitting bearings on the other side now? Since you know that spindle is capable of taking a bearing, perhaps that will let you know if it's something with the actual sizes of the two pieces, or if it's just some distortion.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[Apogee]

I very often have to hit new spindles with a little high (numerically) grit emory cloth to get new bearings to slide on. You typically have .0005" to .001" clearance for a very tight slip fit, so there's not a lot of room for manufacturing burrs, etc, even if they're too small to see with the naked eye.

If you have a micrometer, measure the spindle diameter and report back. The bearing will most likely be to tolerance given it's a commodity item and Timken does pretty well in that regard.

 

[dsenatore]

Put the hub and bearing on from the other side and see what happens.

I'm trying that today and see what happens.
Thanks,
David

 

[dsenatore]

Dirtdonk - The pics are of the old spindle. The new one is new. Originally the seal and bearing were installed on the new hub. That's when it got stuck on the old spindle and came out of the hub. I didn't want that to happen again so I tried to see if the new bearing would slide onto the new spindle before installing in the hub. I get what you're saying regarding the mass/leverage of the hub helping the bearing go on but I didn't want to deface the new spindle should I have the same issue.
Obliged,
David

 

[dsenatore]

I very often have to hit new spindles with a little high (numerically) grit emory cloth to get new bearings to slide on. You typically have .0005" to .001" clearance for a very tight slip fit, so there's not a lot of room for manufacturing burrs, etc, even if they're too small to see with the naked eye.

If you have a micrometer, measure the spindle diameter and report back. The bearing will most likely be to tolerance given it's a commodity item and Timken does pretty well in that regard.

Apogee, I do have a micrometer and will dig that out before swapping the other hub assembly and let you know. I was leery about hitting the new spindle with emory cloth but you guys have gotten me over that so I'll keep that as an option pending the readings of the micrometer.
Thanks,
David

 

[dsenatore]

The new spindle inner bearing surface measures @ 1.815
The bearing inner diameter is @1.782

That seems like a significant difference that emory cloth won't resolve. I'll speak with the vendor and go from there.

BTW, what's the best way to separate the spindle from the disc brake bracket? It came off the knuckle as one unit. I'm going to use a 3-jaw puller to grab the bracket and large socket to to push the spindle out but wasn't sure if others did something different. It's been so long since I've done this...

 

[75MIKE]

I just did mine with a spindle nut on the end of the spindle and start beating different directions with a big rubber mallet. Broke everything loose.

 

[ransil]

The new spindle inner bearing surface measures @ 1.815
The bearing inner diameter is @1.782

That seems like a significant difference that emory cloth won't resolve. I'll speak with the vendor and go from there.

BTW, what's the best way to separate the spindle from the disc brake bracket? It came off the knuckle as one unit. I'm going to use a 3-jaw puller to grab the bracket and large socket to to push the spindle out but wasn't sure if others did something different. It's been so long since I've done this...

you need a spindle puller

http://www.nickstrix.com/products.html

 

[Apogee]

I had to knock on of my disc brake brackets off the register on the spindle with a press (because I have one available), but heat and/or penetrating oil and a dead blow will usually get it done as well.

 

[dsenatore]

Just a follow up - vendor said it's a common problem and to do as others have said - take it down with emery cloth/fine sandpaper. Used some 400 grit and after @ 15 minutes and to our surprise, it was good to go! Thought we'd be there a lot longer and worried I wouldn't do it evenly and put it out of round but on she went.
Thanks again to all,
David

 

[73azbronco]

Freezer is your friend, that and a 20 ton harbor freight press works as well, no cooling required.

 

[Rustytruck]

The early 6 bolt dana 44 in both the ford and the chevy spindle use 1.778 inner spindle diameters.
The Ford spindle 5 bolt used in 1976 and 77 used 1.780 spindle diameter for inner spindle bearing. The link to Dennys driveshaft lists spindles and they have spindle dimensions. Your 1.815 spindle diameter is way off what its supposed to be.

http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/c1792_spindles.html

 

[dsenatore]

Thanks Rustytruck. Yes, it seemed a lot but maybe my measurement was off as getting the bearing to fit after hitting it with the 400 grit sandpaper for @ 15 min did the trick and the fit came out nice.

 

[RT]

Good to know I'm not the only one with this problem. I just got around to using new spindles and bearings and neither side is letting any of the bearings slide on.
Never had this problem before.
Sad that with all the advancements in tech there's so much poor Q/C out there

 

[DirtDonk]

That's a fact!
Too bad we don't have more parts like would have been on the car in your avatar!;D
I bet they really knew how to make a quality problem when Fred was just a pup.

Paul

 

[Broken Wrench]

Great Thread, I had the same issue with the spindles and Timken bearings in August of 2022! I will hit it with some emery cloth after I fab up a puller to get it off.
A belated Thanks