front spindle weld up

[1978davidw]

Welded up my front spindle today after spinning the outer front wheel bearing and having it re machined today. FYI the spindle is not hardened fron the factory but i do suspect it is a good alloy like 4140 or 4350. Hope to get it back together tonight. Anyone else do this to fix a spindle?

David

 

[earnie]

Welded up my front spindle today after spinning the outer front wheel bearing and having it re machined today. FYI the spindle is not hardened fron the factory but i do suspect it is a good alloy like 4140 or 4350. Hope to get it back together tonight. Anyone else do this to fix a spindle?

David

there are several concerns here

#1) how much time was spent on welding it up
#2) how much will it cost for machining
#3) are you heat treating it after all of this work, as the welding and machining will definatly have changed the properties of the metal and mopst likely it will fail or break after a while
personally i would contact boyce equipment, saturn equipment , or the like and replace it
i imagine that in the long run it would be better to replace it then to have it fail again later, of course this is my own opinion

 

[rlwm211]

Years ago, the company I was working in had a big truck roast a rear spindle a long long way frm the shop and any other shop for that matter.

The company that had just done a rear brake job took responsibility. Who knows what happened, but the bearings were toast, the races disintegrated and the spindle scored badly.

They hired a mobile outfit that came in, welded up the damaged portion of the spindle and built the metal up, then employed a mobile machining tool to "turn" shaft to specs. We ran the truck for another 10 years without incident.

I was amazed that this could be done, but in looking at this situation, it was far cheaper to fix the truck in the field, as it could not be towed with one of the rear axles out of commision.

The spindle needs to be strong, but somewhat flexible. If it was absolutely rigid, it would tend to shear if subjected to severe impact and as we know about our deuces, they endure all sorts of abuse on the suspension that sometimes boggles the mind.

RL

 

[earnie]

Years ago, the company I was working in had a big truck roast a rear spindle a long long way frm the shop and any other shop for that matter.

The company that had just done a rear brake job took responsibility. Who knows what happened, but the bearings were toast, the races disintegrated and the spindle scored badly.

They hired a mobile outfit that came in, welded up the damaged portion of the spindle and built the metal up, then employed a mobile machining tool to "turn" shaft to specs. We ran the truck for another 10 years without incident.

I was amazed that this could be done, but in looking at this situation, it was far cheaper to fix the truck in the field, as it could not be towed with one of the rear axles out of commision.

The spindle needs to be strong, but somewhat flexible. If it was absolutely rigid, it would tend to shear if subjected to severe impact and as we know about our deuces, they endure all sorts of abuse on the suspension that sometimes boggles the mind.

RL

assuming this truck is at a home or shop would it not be safer and cheaper to replace it

 

[rlwm211]

Quite obviously, it can be replaced fairly easily at home.

I was simply pointing out that the spindle on a truck is not some special super duper high tech alloy material and that some tinkering is allowable if done in a professional manner.
Now a spindle for a fighter jet, race car, or other exotic is another animal.

I agree, change the spindle if you can get one.

RL

 

[319]

Is this maybe one reason for a lathe and welder on some of the shop trucks.

 

[tm america]

I just had my inner wheel bearing go out .It ended up messing up the hub where the seal rides i might weld it and cut it on the lathe . .The other problem is cutting the weld is not as easy as it sounds welds are hardened metal when done ....ussually you grind hardened metal not cut it.....It can be done ..I dont think you would have a problem with it as long as the wasnt worn to thin when it spun the bearing..

 

[rlwm211]

If you can find a "speedi-Sleeve" that is the correct size for that seal, or the combination of the slightly oversized seal and speedi-sleeve you can use the sleeve to provide a smooth area for the seal to ride on.

Speedi-Sleeves are made for a lot of sizes and are from Chicago Rawhide/Federal Mogul if I am not mistaken.

I have seen an industrial catalog that lists the sleeves and the diameters along with seals for shafts and hubs for many sizes incrementally from under an inch to 6 inches or more.

In terms of the size invovled and the cost, unless the spindle is very difficult to replace, I would imagine it would be far cheaper to replace the spindle than it would be to buy the sleeve and appropriate seal.

RL

 

[1978davidw]

what i done is welded a small portion at a time used a garden hose flowing water through the inside of the spindle at the same time. the cost of getting it reground is about 50 bucks and me do the welding. I had the guy at the machine shop test it it is not heat treated metal only measures about 34 rockwell and thats checking far away from any heat affected area. Thats about standard no heat treated hardness for 4140 or 4350.