Front spindle burned up

[Brad Felmey]

I have a 1997 F53, and the right front brakes drug, burning everything up. It was like this when I got it. It was so bad that the TPMS I installed alerted on that tire after just a few miles with high temperature (+160F).

I ordered all-new rotors, bearings, grease seals, rebuilt calipers with metal pistons, pins, brake hoses, the whole nine yards.

Tucking into it, I found that when I pulled the hub/rotor and cleaned the spindle, I see that the spindle is blued from heat, and that the spindle is worn where the inboard bearing resides. Not terribly, but I can barely feel it with my fingertip. Some visual aids:











This is not confidence-inspiring.

Of course the knuckle/spindle is a discontinued item and I've had no luck finding an NOS one (Ford part E9TZ-3105-A).

I'm in a pickle here decision-wise. I very much want a new spindle, but one simply isn't available, and doing used-part interchange searches have not been successful, either.

About my only choice is to put it all back together (with synthetic grease) with everything fresh except the spindle and trust my luck.

Anyone have a pointer on how I might proceed differently?

[spyderRV]

A few places to try:

AFFORDABLE RV SURPLUS
546 Hickory St.
Chico, CA 95928
Phone: (888) 326 5470 or (530) 879 9501
Surplus & New RV Parts from Hi-Line RV Manufacturers

All Auto Truck Recycle
Rancho Cordova, CA
(800) 477-3086
vehicle parts incl MH.

ALL SEASONS RV
10191 Government Way
Hayden, ID 83835
Phone: (208) 772-6581
Email: allseasonsrv@msn.com
A supply of new and obsolete Onan generator and engine parts, as well as manuals.

ALRETTA TRUCK PARTS INC
Bldg#5B, Second Flr.,
One Watson Place,
Framingham, Ma. 01701
Phone: 508-788-9409
Email: brakeparts@mac.com
Manufacturer and Distributor of Dodge motorhome Class A and Class C service brake system parts including rotors, drums, friction materials, calipers, wheel cyl's, hoses, hardware, and related parts. Also supplied for Ford and Chevy chassis.

ARIZONA RV SALVAGE
2737 W Lincoln
Phoenix, AZ 85009
Phone: (877) 824 8242 or (602) 272 0301
Email: sales@azrvinc.com
Web: Contact Support
New and used plumbing, cooling, lighting, appliances, windows, doors, holding tanks, hubs, rotors, axles, running gears and rear ends. Vast inventory, will ship nationwide.

BOB'S USED RV PARTS
RT 2 BOX 1145
High Springs, FL 32643
Phone: (386) 454 5733
Wide selection of used RV parts, we buy wrecked RVs.

BONTRAGERS SURPLUS PARTS
18719 E US 12
White Pigeon, MI 49099
Phone: (866) 483-7017
Email: surplus@myrural.com
Web: Bontragers Surplus Inc. |
Refrigerators, ranges, hot water heaters, furnaces.

BRANDON AUTO SALVAGE
3159 State Road 60 E
Valrico, FL 33594
Phone: (800) 282-7462 or (813) 689-8131
All types of RV parts for all types of RV

Colaw RV Parts & Salvage
10389 Cimarron Rd.
Carthage, MO 64836
(417)548-2125
Email: www.colawrvsalvage.com
Actively dismantling hundreds of damaged RVs for the purpose of reselling used RV parts.

Cooper RV Salvage
1300 Thornton St.
Elkhart, IN 46514
(219) 293-3027
All types of parts for all types of RVs.

D.T.I. INC. PARTS UNLIMITED
304 N. Main
Middlebury, IN 46540
Phone: (800) 289 0919 or (219) 825 5858
Reconditioned/scratch and dent appliances. RV appliance parts.

DINOSAUR ELECTRONICS
1160 S.E. 27th Street PO. Box 1263
Lincoln City, OR 97367
Phone: (541) 994 4344
Email: info@dinosaurelectronics.com
Manufacturers of new replacement circuit boards for Onan generators, Norcold and Dometic refrigerators, and igniter boards for all brands and models of furnaces and water heaters. New boards only... no used or NOS parts.

ECONOMY USED RV PARTS
1678 W Superstition #8
Apache Junction, AZ 85220
Phone: (800) 224 2601 or (520) 982 2678
New, used, salvage, surplus and obsolete parts with discount prices. Buy/sell/trade.

Elkhart Surplus Salvage
28301 US Highway 33 (West Franklin)
Elkhart, IN 46516
(219)295-8903

Factory RV Surplus
1537 W. Bristol
Elkhart, IN
219-262-3327

GUNDIE'S INC.
1283 Mt. Baker Hwy.
Bellingham, WA 98226
(800) 444-4344, (360) 733-5036
Large number of rebuildable RVs, auto recycling center, appliances, all types of parts for all types of RVs.

HOWELL'S RV APPLIANCE REPAIR
11366 N. Woodside Avenue
Santee, CA 92071
Phone: (619) 441 0066
New, used and reconditioned RV appliances.

Huckaby's Recreational Vehicle Salvage
1293 NW 50 Highway
Holden Mo., 64040
816-850-4155
email: carhuck@swbell.net

Icke's RV Surplus, Montpelier, IN, (317) 728-5668
Raymond Ickes Supplies
701 W Huntington St
Montpelier, IN 47359
(765)728-5668
New/Surplus RV parts, 29 years in business, 4 warehouses. UPS nationwide delivery.

IDEAL RV AND TRAILER SUPPLY
3375 E. Bayshore Rd.
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: (415) 365 1574
Hard to find new and used RV parts

JAKES RV PARTS & SALVAGE
Fairmont, MN
Phone: (507) 235-9484.
Specializes in hard to find parts, including awnings.

LA PORTE'S PARTS DISTRIBUTORS
2444 N. Fifth Street
Hartsville, SC 29550
Phone: (803) 332 0191
Unique inventory of new and obsolete heating, air-conditioning and appliance parts - DuoTherm, Coleman, etc. Wholesale only. Please have your dealer contact them for you.

LAIRSON ENTERPRISES
10812 66 North
Pinnelas Park, FL 33782
Phone: (727) 541 1809
Web: lairsonenterprise.rnrws.com/
All kinds of Surplus RV parts from Appliances to Running Gear.

L&M Salvage
Mishawaka, Indiana

MCBRIDES SERVICE & SUPPLY CO
13788 Oaks Avenue
Chino, CA 91710
Phone: (8000 421 7788
Rare wheels for motorhomes, chassis parts.

National Recovery Service
PO Box 310
3241 Leonard Dr
Liberty, NC 27298
(800) 903-7285, (336)622-7285
Rebuilds damaged RVs. Engines, nose/tail cones, differentials, transmissions and other new and old hard-to-find parts.

RV Doctor George
1142 Dixieanne Avenue
Sacramento CA 95815
Office (916) 927-7837
Fax (916) 927-3866
Email: doc@rvdoctorgeorge.com

SALVAGE CO.
65504 US 31 South
Lakeville, IN
Phone: (219) 784 8954

Shaw & Co
6374 State Rd. 303
Albuquerque, NM 87105
(505) 877-8949
Mainly trailers and large appliances.

Singleton RV Salvage and Sales
383 Nelson Rd.
Rochester, WA (360) 273-9566
Sinks, fridges, stoves, lights, awnings, roof air, propane tanks, axles, body parts, doors, windows, jacks, and much more. Open four days a week: Thur., Fri., Sat. and Sun.

Tom’s Borderline Bargains
67351 US South 131
Constantine, Michigan 49042
(616) 435-5533
borderline131@aol.com
Refrigerators, ranges, hot water heaters, furnaces, paneling, replacement windows, Amish oak, carpet, trim, a little bit of everything for your home, mobile home, and RV.

Visone RV
243 Fields Ln, East Bernstadt, KY 40729
(606) 843-9889
RV Salvage Parts | Visone RV | Motorhomes And Repairable Wrecks | Used RV Parts Monaco RV Parts | Prevost RV Parts | Holiday Rambler Parts | Alfa Visone RV Junk Yard - RV Dismantler | usedrvparts.visonerv.com

Walt's RV Surplus
16616 Valley Blvd.
Fontana, CA 92335
(909) 823-0563, FAX (909) 823-8515
New/Surplus RV parts. Specializing in Fleetwood, as well as National and Cobra RVs. , CA (909) 823-0563

[Pigman1]

Have you removed the spindle already or can you remove it without too much trouble? If it's off or you can take it off I'd take it to a very good machine shop and have them take a look at it. They can do the necessary measurements on it and tell you if it's out of specs for the bearings you want to install. They should also be able to run a Rockwell hardness test on various points of the spindle to tell you if the heat has softened it to the point that it HAS to be replaced.

[pointrow]

if it was mine I would run the spindle you have. There are several products available to take up the slack when mounting bearings. Permatex, TRW and Loc Tight come to mind.
Old timers would use a center punch and prick the spindle so the bearing would not turn on the spindle.
As far as the blueing of the spindle it's fine and not unusual.

good luck
pointrow

[PbdBlue]

The discoloration is from the heat treating done during manufacturing and not from the brake event. I think you'll find a replacement spindle will have the same discoloration. I wouldn't hesitate to reuse that spindle but I would check the hub temperature by hand at the first couple of hundred miles during stops just to make sure.

[B Dubya]

I just did brakes, calipers, and bearings on mine, and I don't see anything there that's different from mine. But, you should do what you're comfortable with.

[twinboat]

See how the bearings fit, dry.

There must be a spec some where. Otherwise compare to the other side.

If seen worse and put it back together.

If it's real loose, check with an truck axle shop. They used to rebuild the king pin holes in our truck axles.

My guess is that there was a bearing failure before the brake event. The red rust, on the bearing, indicates water intrusion.

[Brad Felmey]

Originally Posted by twinboat

See how the bearings fit, dry.

There must be a spec some where. Otherwise compare to the other side.

If seen worse and put it back together.

If it's real loose, check with an truck axle shop. They used to rebuild the king pin holes in our truck axles.

My guess is that there was a bearing failure before the brake event. The red rust, on the bearing, indicates water intrusion.

I checked the dry fit, and was satisfied with the result. The red on the bearing is the original color of the grease. There was no identifiable water intrusion.

[LETMGROW]

I would clean the spindle up with some fine emery cloth and then some crocus cloth, slide the new bearing on and make sure it fits with just a little drag and there is no noticeable play in the inner race to spindle area.
After doing the sanding be sure to clean the spindle thoroughly before sliding the bearing on. As long as the bearing didn't seize to the spindle I think you are just fine reusing the spindle.
Lynn

[TeJay]

I have seen this done on a rear axle with bearing. The galled area of the axle where the inner seal rubs is wet sanded and a special thin metal sleeve is placed over the area so nothing scores the axle seal.

Your situation is not exactly the same but there's more than one way of fixing something like this. Remember that the inner bearing that fits over the axle is not supposed to turn on the axle. So if that area does not look god so what. Now the area still has to be big enough to keep the part centered. If it is out of specs most decent machine shops cna figure out a way of tightening up the metal clearances.

Somebody already mentioned using a center punch. Making a series of punch marks around the axle will force metal up out and away making the axle slightly bigger. Then it can be wet sanded until the new bearing will slide on.

TeJay

[spider13]

I would use it. The bearing race is press fit into the rotor not the spindle. It is all tightened in place with the spindle nut and the shoulder on the spindle

[Brad Felmey]

Thank you all for the feedback. I've moved forward with the existing spindle amid reasonable confidence it'll hold up.