Do axle spindles wear out?

[Jimmy9190]

This is about the 2001 Dakota pickup in my signature, just turned over 173,000 miles this morning. It is a two wheel drive. This past Friday on the way to work I heard a rubbing/scraping/clacking sound when turning left, it was the classic bad wheel bearing noise. I just recently replaced both front wheel bearing/hub assemblies back in May with Moog bearings I got at AAP. The bearings only had about 6,000 miles on them.

AAP did a warranty exchange and I replaced the right front bearing yesterday, it had a good amount of play in the tire/wheel when rocking it with my hands at the 12 and 6:00 positions. The noise is now gone and the truck is back to normal but my logic dictates there has to be some other cause for a Moog bearing to fail in that short of a time. Can the axle spindle wear down and cause bearing failure like that? The only thing I can think of is that there must be some problem with the axle. Even cheap bearings from ebay last longer than 6,000 miles.

If the axle can fail or get out of tolerance I will replace the steering knuckle next. Thanks for any info on this.

 

[MolaKule]

I have seen runs of bad metallurgy and/or insufficient lubrication in both axles and bearings.

 

[Kestas]

Bearings can fail for any of a multitude of reasons. Examination of the bearing and assembly could give a clue to why the bearing failed.

The number one reason for failure is improper installation or application. This accounts for nearly one half of failures.

 

[AandPDan]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
The number one reason for failure is improper installation or application. This accounts for nearly one half of failures.


This /\

You did torque the bearing exactly to specs? Did you use a new nut?

 

[eljefino]

Did you heat it or cool it as necessary so it'd slip on easy? Did you hammer it home?

 

[Jimmy9190]

Yes I torqued to 185 ft-lbs per my Dodge Factory Service Manual. I torqued it while the front end was still on jack stands, then checked it again with the truck back on the ground. I put a light coat of grease on the spindles and used the new nuts that Moog includes with the bearings. I wonder if ball joints might be the problem. The wheel/tire still had just a tiny bit of movement at 12 and 6 after I installed the new bearing yesterday.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Did you heat it or cool it as necessary so it'd slip on easy? Did you hammer it home?


No need for heat or big hammer. The besring slid off and on very easily.

 

[Kool1]

What is the country of origin where the bearings came from?

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
my logic dictates there has to be some other cause for a Moog bearing to fail in that short of a time.

Cheap Chinese hubs. It would be very rare for a spindle to just go out of spec and it doesn't sound like it because the hub went on without having to use any force.

Next time clean the spindle and polish it slightly with some 600 paper, use a little grease and torque it to 200ftlb, loosen slightly and retorque to spec 180ft lb.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: Kool1
What is the country of origin where the bearings came from?


Korea.

 

[Trav]

Is that what was on the bearing?

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Is that what was on the bearing?


Yes. It had "Korea" stamped on the side of it. I think there was a part number on it too.

 

[Trav]

Usually much better than Chinese. I only ask because whats on the box is almost meaningless, its whats on the bearing race itself. I see tensioners with Made in USA on the box with a Chinese bearing in them.
I would suspect a defective hub/bearing before the spindle if there was no obvious damage to it.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks Trav. I appreciate your help. Do you think it could be a ball joint problem? The tire still had just a tiny bit of "give" to it when I rocked it at 12 and 6:00 after installing the new bearing yesterday.

 

[Trav]

If it has a worn ball joint it should be replaced but i cant see it causing this problem.
Does it have any vibration going down the road?

 

[AandPDan]

You shouldn't notice a large amount of play when you're checking the ball joints. The specs on the upper is .060 so you're talking about a 1/16 of an inch.

 

[Jimmy9190]

It has a slight vibration that I feel if I have only one hand on the steering wheel. With both hands on it the vibration seems to go away. I will pay better attention to it going home today.

What bothers me is I just replaced both wheel bearings back in May and when I did that job it was the right side bearing that was bad then too. That is one reason I suspected some other problem now. I replaced all 4 ball joints about 4 years ago. That was about 40,000 miles ago. Uppers are Duralast which I believe are made by TRW. Lowers are TRW branded and all 4 are greasable. I grease them every oil change which is every 3000 miles.

 

[Silverado12]

If you take it in for an alignment, the tech will check for any worn out front end components. The shimmy could be a wheel out of balance.

 

[asand1]

I see a lot of confusion with nomenclature here. If the truck in fact has "wheel bearing/hub assemblies" (unit bearings) as OP suggests, then there is no spindle, but rather a CV joint output shaft.
The output shaft will not wear or cause bearing failure, only defects or improper torque would cause it to fail so soon.

 

[AandPDan]

He has a 2wd and it has spindles. The wheel bearing is part of the hub assembly.