SE-I Spindle Problem

Hi Guys,

Now that we've had a chance to thaw out a little up here, I've been digging into my front knuckles and my new (to me) sei rear disk knuckles, in preparation of getting them powder-coated.

There is a rather big problem with the rears though. The left knuckle looks like it has a new hub/spindle on it, very little rust, no play in the bearing. The spindle has no discoloration, and I can't feel any run-out with my finger. (Yes, I know it's not a scientific approach, but trust me, I have very sensitive hands so I'm not worried at all).

The right one.... was bad. The hub wobbled a but when I loosened the spindle nut, took a lot of effort to get off, and I can tell it was time to do the bearing on it.

I don't care since I got new koyo hubs, BUT the spindle has signs of annealing/discoloration, and although I can't see it, I can feel that there's a lip on the spindle.

My question is (before I start completely panicking) is what the hell do I do now!!!

(P.S, what kind of options do we also have for the 4 bolts pressed into this thing that hold the trailing arm on to it...)

I would really appreciate any honest input on this, thanks in advance!! :-)

Can you post a picture of the spindle?

C|

Have you tried the new hubs to see if they will fit? I don't remember the hub swap being very difficult on mine. If there's no deformation of the spindle (I'd be surprised if there were), I'd rock it.

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Originally Posted by Dr_Snooz

Have you tried the new hubs to see if they will fit? I don't remember the hub swap being very difficult on mine. If there's no deformation of the spindle (I'd be surprised if there were), I'd rock it.

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x2 on this. I wouldn't worry too much, sounds like a wheel bearing might have seized is a possibility. I did also notice my original SE-i hubs appeared to have "loose" bearings, the new Moog cryo treated ones I got installed without an issue. only suggestion I got is to try swapping the hubs from side to side to rule out some concerns you have and Mic the spindles if you can for re-assurance. A picture like Cygnus suggested would give us a better idea.

Sorry for replying late, haven't been getting notifications that I got replies :sad2:

I can't get a pic for another week or so since the PC guy told me it would be 2 weeks out before they'd be done, due to the holiday. (I already gave them my first set of LCA, knuckles, etc. to coat)
I checked NAPA for another Spindle since they looked like they can just be pressed in and out, but they don't have any.

When I was bringing them into the shop, they'd gotten some dust on them, and I didn't notice the edge as much as before. I don't think you'd even notice any deformation with a picture.
The discoloration is just a bit of a brown splotch from where the center of the bearing would sit.. maybe just some grease that got hot and left a stain?

On the hub from the better side, the bearing was sitting snug and solid, but the bad side the hub would wobble maybe 2-3 mm side to side, but the play looked to be in the bearing only. I wouldn't be surprised if that is 85% just the bad bearing.

The new bearing in the new Koyo hub is NTN, which is the OEM bearings (based off the old bearings I had in mine, front & rear, being NTN).

By the way, is the O-Ring behind the retaining ring supposed to keep the grease from leaking out when the bearing is hot enough to make the grease liquid??
To be honest, I don't really get how sealed bearings like this retain their lubrication considering that they don't sit in any oil at all...? [First time ever doing auto-bearings, and a lil confused]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 88Sleeper

Sorry for replying late, haven't been getting notifications that I got replies :sad2:

I can't get a pic for another week or so since the PC guy told me it would be 2 weeks out before they'd be done, due to the holiday. (I already gave them my first set of LCA, knuckles, etc. to coat)
I checked NAPA for another Spindle since they looked like they can just be pressed in and out, but they don't have any.

When I was bringing them into the shop, they'd gotten some dust on them, and I didn't notice the edge as much as before. I don't think you'd even notice any deformation with a picture.
The discoloration is just a bit of a brown splotch from where the center of the bearing would sit.. maybe just some grease that got hot and left a stain?

On the hub from the better side, the bearing was sitting snug and solid, but the bad side the hub would wobble maybe 2-3 mm side to side, but the play looked to be in the bearing only. I wouldn't be surprised if that is 85% just the bad bearing.

The new bearing in the new Koyo hub is NTN, which is the OEM bearings (based off the old bearings I had in mine, front & rear, being NTN).

By the way, is the O-Ring behind the retaining ring supposed to keep the grease from leaking out when the bearing is hot enough to make the grease liquid??
To be honest, I don't really get how sealed bearings like this retain their lubrication considering that they don't sit in any oil at all...? [First time ever doing auto-bearings, and a lil confused]

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The O-ring is pretty much to keep dirt and water out,

I got my front knuckles, front hardware, and rear spindles back from my Powder-Coater, and they look DAMN good! (better than a new set from Honda, anyways)
One question though, they did sandblast the spindle itself, so it's definitely clean completely. I don't think that takes off enough material to make the bearings have a problem though?
(they also PC'd the spindle on the front hubs too, lol)

I'll have to check that later tonight (by test-fitting new hubs), and I'll post some pics too. I also noticed that the old hubs also have the same discoloration that I saw on the spindles originally. I can post a pic of those as well, if that would help identify what the problem was/is?

If the actual spindle stem is damaged, you can get that thing pressed out. I'm sure the drum lx-i/lx/dx stem is the same.

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Originally Posted by carotman

If the actual spindle stem is damaged, you can get that thing pressed out. I'm sure the drum lx-i/lx/dx stem is the same.

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i believe jean is right, i recall when i did my sics swap the spindles were the same, just the knuckle itself was different.

I wouldn't worry about the discoloration unless there is scoring on it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gp02a0083

i believe jean is right, i recall when i did my sics swap the spindles were the same, just the knuckle itself was different.

I wouldn't worry about the discoloration unless there is scoring on it

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Ok, cool.

Well, the discoloration is gone since they bead-blasted the stem itself. I'm not sure what to think of it now, since the new Koyo hub does not slide in very easy, it will fit, but it is a really tight fit, and I'll have to use the press to make sure I get it straight on there. Is this bad? Myself I don't think there should be any play between bearing race and stem, but I didn't engineer these either...

(Btw, I do have a 20-ton press, so it wouldn't be a big deal to use the old spindle, but it would break the powder coat at the base of the stem on the back, at this point :'( )

I recall my Moog cryo treated hubs had a slight amount of play, but was gone after correctly torquing the spindle nut. could always hand polish the spindle to help the fitment. I'd be curious to mic the spindle in 3 spots to determine if there actually is a taper or non uniformity. Any time i've removed the rear hubs I did not have a hard time with the fitment unless it was removing a ceased bearing

It shouldn't really be that tight. Need pictures.

C|