need help stat!!!

[Y33TREKker]

I'm left wondering why the cv-axle dust seal got pushed away from the rear of the spindle assembly in the first place. With the hub assembly removed, there should be nothing to obstruct the cv-axle assembly from mating back up to the spindle assembly.

Once those two assemblies are mated completely with no gap remaining like you were first experiencing, I remember having to spin my hub assembly as I was putting it back on to get it onto the spindle assembly as far as it would go, and at that point (and after using the hub nut tool to set the preload), sliding the hub flange onto the axle splines and spinning the hub until the bolt holes lined up. IIRC that is, it's been a long time since I replaced my front bearings too.

[PK]

Sounds like your inner hub needle bearing has broken up.

Have you replaced that??

Item 6 on the attached.

Attachment 1520


PK

[p_justin13]

well i got it back together with everthing cleaned out was a pain in the you know what barely could get the snap ring back on. Hoping your correct about the old wheel bearings. This was the wheel the the caliper had locked up on so I'm guessing I torched the bearings. The didn't look to bad to the naked eye to so I guess I won't know till I give it a test drive in a few minutes. Thanks all for the help!

[Y33TREKker]

...barely could get the snap ring back on...

Sounds about normal.

...This was the wheel the the caliper had locked up on so I'm guessing I torched the bearings. The didn't look to bad to the naked eye...

I'd say if your bearings had done any damage, you'd have easily seen it in the race areas of the hub.

As long as everything went back together with no more hiccups and you got the preload set correctly, you should be good to go.

[p_justin13]

Got it back together finally. Just went for a test run. Noise has definetly quited down but still a little grindage very faint and feels kind of loose. Well we'll see its a 35 mile drive home from the shop so plenty of time to sink or swim on this one. Thanks all for the help!

[p_justin13]

well turns out it was the knuckle. Once I removed the cv axle a ton of small pins about a half inch long and two washers fell right out. one thin almost like a snap ring and the other thicker with a hole the size of the shaft in it. so question of the day is where the hell can I find a new knuckle??

[Triathlete]

Are you sure you need the whole knuckle or can you just have the old bearing pressed out and a new one pressed in? If the latter I would give Merlin a call for the bearings. If you need the whole knuckle I would search the recycleers or those parting out their VX's on here.

[Triathlete]

Looking at the pic PK posted it looks like you should be able to replace just the bearings.

[p_justin13]

I just ordered a whole knuckle from a trooper for 60 bucks from a bone yard would assume they wouldnt remove the hub. I can't find for the life of me anywhere that has the parts so yes assuming that it would be a special order from merlin. I hadn't realized that you guys had posted onto the second page totally missed the whole bit on the needle bearings. Would have saved me so much time I feel like a dumb ***! lol 18 hr work days have got me a little to loopy I think. Thanks again to all for the help if anyone else knows of a local store. IE autozone pepboys or o'rileys that might carry these parts let me know didn't see anything at autozone nor did I expect to.

[Triathlete]

Just to be straight...
the knuckle and the hub are two totally different things. The knuckle is the part shown in PK's pic with the spindle and bearings. The hub is the splined disc and cap that has the 6 allen head bolts holding it on. Will make your parts search a bit easier.

[Y33TREKker]

Agreed that the knuckle/spindle bearing could probably just be replaced as opposed to buying an entire new/used knuckle/spindle assembly.

Plus, the one you'll be getting from the Trooper will have a used bearing too.

Granted, you'd probably have to remove your current knuckle/spindle assembly anyway to have a new bearing pressed in (and thrust washer and oil seal installed), but if you're going through all that trouble of removing it anyway, ending up with a new bearing would be best as a while-you're-in-there kind of thing.