I replaced the front rotors, bearings, races, callipers, pads, hoses last fall.

Whenever I drove I didn't notice anything for the first 4 miles. After that the front wheels started to make noise as long as I did not press on the brake. If I pressed on the brake the noise would stop. I thought it was noisy brake pads vibrating.

The other night I was driving and I felt a tiny "clunk" from the front right wheel. It felt and sounded like something was rubbing against the tire.

The steering didn't feel different. The braking didn't feel different. Now there is snow on the ground so maybe that was built up in the wheel well.

I pulled over and got out my flashlight. There was nothing rubbing that I could see. I felt around back and the brake hose seemed to be out of the way.

Since things didn't seem to have stopped working I drove home. By the time I got home the sound sort of changed to a grinding noise instead of a rubbing noise.

When I got home the tire rim on that side was very HOT. The rim on the other side was warmer than the air but not nearly as hot.

The weekend came and I took the tire off. The dust cap came off with the tire. There are metal filings all over inside the rotor, on the calliper, inside the tire rim.

I can't get the rotor off because the washer that sits behind the lock nut no longer fits over the thread that the nut screws on to. The washer spins but will not pull out over the thread.

I think I will try getting a dremel tool this weekend to see if it will cut through the washer. Any other ideas?

I have been told the bearings probably fell apart because I did not tighten the rotor on _enough_ before backing the lock nut off a bit.

The rotor has discoloration from the heat. The inside face of the rotor feels smooth but the outside face is not worn all of the way to the outer edge of the rotor. (The outer 5-6 mm is raised and does not look shiny.)

I'm assuming this means I need to replace the rotor and the spindle that the rotor sits on (and of course bearings and races). How much work is replacing the spindle? It looks like it's attached to the strut. If I replace one side is it best to replace both? Where can I buy the spindle / strut housing?

It would cost more to do but since I have to take things apart is this a good time to replace the tie rod ends?

Update: I forgot to mention that this is on my '79.

 

your spindle is probably messed up, too bad i have one for the left side

 

ya that sounds like you spun your bearing. thats weird though, only thing i can think of is you maybe pressed your race in ****-eyed, nicked or scratched it during installation or you got a bunk bearing. you always want to preload a new bearing so everything seats well, but i don't think it would cause it to fail like that. but maybe not. Have you checked to see if there is even grase in there anymore. and you sure you packed your bearings with wheel bearing grease, and not white lithium or something? lol might as well ask.

 

Oh yeah. I bought a tube of bearing grease. I had to go to the store to get it but I figured "if they make a grease for that then I should probably use it."

I haven't got the washer out yet so I don't know what the bearings look like yet. The metal filings were clumped together. I didn't really look at it but I figure they were stuck to some grease.

 

Bump.

 

so what happened? did you get that washer off and have a look inside

 

Not. Yet. I'm borrowing a dremal tool today.

I'm having a hard time finding a spindle and the washer and lock-nut-cover around town. The dealer sent me to a specialty shop.

Rock Auto lists a spindle by AC Delco. I'll have to check the forums for discount codes. If you have one please post.

I'm also heading to the scrap yard today to see what I can find.

 

What year is your car, is it an Se or not?

You may need to think about taking a lot of photos if the parts failed because of faulty workmanship?

 

The car is a '79. I don't know if it is a GS or GSL (no badges). It's a later '79. It has mirrors on both doors and map pockets on the doors. It has a 5-speed transmission but I think that came from a 1980 car.

 

We got the washer out. It's not the washer holding things in. The outer (out from the middle of the car) bearing seem to have pretty much welded to the spindle. It seems like the inner bearings are spinning pretty much fine. They are probably still full of metal filings and will need to be replaced.

I'm going to try drilling through the bearings in places to try to weaken it and then see if it can be pried off of the spindle.

 

Post pics please

 

I don't know what happened to your front bearings..BUT..from reading what you posted,would it be that you replaced the bearings(when you replaced everything..brakes etc..) you didn't Prepack the bearings with Grease before installing them?..seems to be you just found out about wheel bearing grease After The Fact..The bearings would have burnt up..no lube..Sometimes saving a couple bucks turns into Spendin alot..Glad that it did not Let Go ...It could have been alot worse..Hope you get it fixed..EDIT POST..reading through again ..and it looks like you packed the bearings..(apologies)..Could have got a bad one ..happens..In any case good luck..and glad you are ok.

 

I was going to use lithium grease but somewhere I heard there is bearing grease (I don't recall where, my brother maybe) so I went and bought it. So I did use bearing grease. Maybe I didn't get enough in the bearings. Maybe I didn't tighten the lock-nut down enough before backing off. I'm not sure what happened.

I think I'm lucky that things went okay and I could drive home. Maybe I shouldn't have driven when it was like that but I didn't know what happened.

I will post pictures as soon as I can get some on the computer.

 

be interesting to see exactly what happened ..when you go to repack the bearings ..put a good gob of it in your hand ..rub the bearing on the outer parts of it and work it in..not rolling the bearing ..but where the bearing races are..there are small spaces there that will allow you to put grease where the rolled pins sit in the bearing..make sure that the pins show grease....and also throw a bit on the spindle..not alot..just a light film ..since it will spin off anyway ..and make sure you get no grease on the brakes..best of luck to ya,in any case..

 

Basically, as misterstyx69 said, to pack the bearings, just put a gob of it in one hand, and hold the bearing in your other hand at an angle, upright, and smack it into the grease so that it gets shoved up into the bearings properly, all the while rotating the bearing in your hand. Once the bearing is nicely, not heavily, coated with bearing grease, you're good to go. Keep us posted, and glad no extensive damage was done.

 

Buying a strut/spindle retail is going to kill you. On the 84/85 cars you can buy either side as long as you move the caliper mounting plate to the new strut/spindle. I don't know about the 79 though... Anyways, I got mine from a junk yard for $75 which is loads cheaper than the Victoria British which is over $500, if I remember correctly.

Before you remove the strut/spindle, break loose the big nut that holds the spring at the top of the strut, but don't remove it. It's just that it's easier to do when the strut is mounted.

And seeing that you had problems with one side, maybe it would be a good time to take a look at the other side...

 

I will hopefully have pictures this weekend. (I need a USB cable).

We got the bearings out. The outer bearings seized up. The inner bearings seem okay. (I bought new ones anyway because I figure there are metal bits in the grease and bearings.)

There is no grease left in the bearings that fell apart but there is grease inside the hub. I have some interesting pictures to post.

Part of getting the bearings off the axle spindle involved a grinder. We nicked the spindle. Also the thread on the spindle is really damaged.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/cata...&parttype=7576 lists the spindle as AC DELCO Part # 45G6105

The AC Delco web site says that part is also used on the '97 Mercury Sable that a friend wants to part out. So this weekend we are going to have a look at the Sable to see if the part looks like it will work. http://tinyurl.com/o3mlu

I took the backing plate off of my spindle I don't see how to remove the spindle from the shock assembly. There is a little hole on the opposite side from where the spindle sticks out but I can't see back there very well.

I didn't see a first gen in the scrap yard two weeks ago. Maybe I will find one this weekend. If I do find one I might just buy the whole strut/spindle unit then swap in my existing strut and spring. The Haynes book makes it look easy.

I still need to find the toothed washer and castle crown for the spindle. Any idea where to find these? The guy at the dealership did not seem happy even though I had the parts number from the micro fiche He did not want to order $3 in parts and have them shipped from the U.S.

 

The spindle does not come out. It is part of the strut assembly. If you had not replaced the other side it would have been a good time to upgrade both sides to 84/85 strut/spindle assemblies.

I think that the part rockauto lists is some kind of shield (dust shield) as per the description 'SHIELD,FRT SUSP STRUT'. and not a spindle at all

 

I would not replace the bearings. Start from scratch, go to the junk yard and get a complete(strut, brake rotor, spring) set of 81' or higher strut assemblies, 84-85 GS or GSL are best. The assembly can be removed very quickly and intact. With the complete assembly you will not have to do anything but move your SA caliper mount to the new strut. Then you will have the updated larger spindles, it will cost about the same as buying new for just one part of a single side. Left and right are the same as far as the strut tube goes, same part number.
Just my thoughts ont the problem.

 

Honestly, unless your intention is to keep the car 100% original, I would replace the entire strut assembly on both sides with the S3 ones. That will give you better options on shocks, brakes and parts. You will need to redo the brake line ends. Selling your good one could help offset some of the cost.

 

A dust sheild? Oh. I see what you mean. This is exactly why I don't like 20 character part descriptions with no pictures.

 

The only place you'll find a new replacement strut for 81 and up is Victoria British where prices start at 250 and go up to 400 depending on the year (spindle size changes). All will fit your car if you get the rotor, bearings, caliper, pads...

To go on the cheap, hit the junk yard, or for sale section on this forum, to get the single strut, replace the bearings and do it again.

But you may want to do what trochoid suggests and get a set of used 84/85 struts for your car and sell off the 1 good strut to offset your costs.

By the way, there is a Canadian section on this forum along with a Canadian for sale section.

 

Thanks all. I might check out the classified section.

I just bought new calipers, rotors, pads, hoses, bearings last summer. It might be hard to find a strut/spindle for a '79 though. I suspect the '80 is the same size but I don't know for sure.

 

80 will work too as a direct replacement.

 

Are the strut assemblies different on the left/right sides? The caliper mounts to a plate that mounts on the spindle so the strut/spindle might be the same on both sides.