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Wed Aug 06, 2003 4:53 am

Can anybody help me out ? My 1967 splitbus spindles seem to have movement/play.
I don't see or hear or feel any play untill I jack up the front of my bus and move the wheel, first I thought it could be the front wheel bearing, but it seems to be the spindles (yes, both sides).
When I take a close look, it is the 'upper' part of the spindle where the play comes from. Is there any way to try to adjust this play, or am I looking at a rebuild here ?
Thanks in advance !

Wed Aug 06, 2003 5:37 am

Just some general spindle info here:
If you grab the wheel and move it vertically and feel movement, then you have worn king pins or bushings (get them rebuilt). If you have lateral movement, as in terms of camber, then you might be able to adjust out the excess movement by tightening the link pins (but not too tight).

Wed Aug 06, 2003 5:39 am

Thanks 23 window ! It is more or less the vertical movement...but also a bit to the sides, but more vertical...can anybody still follow me :-)
How do I tighten the link pins ?

Wed Aug 06, 2003 6:54 am

Each pin has a pinch bolt that holds it secure. You have to loosen (not remove) the pinch bolt. You will notice the link pin has a couple flat areas on the very end that a 17mm just happens to fit. With the pinch bolt loose you can turn the link pin, if you watch the end of the pin, it will be obvious which direction loosens and which tightens the slack in the pin. Remember what 23 said though, not too tight. What I did (the second time, after I got them too tight the first :shock: ) was to tighten them to full crush then back off a smidge. I highly reccomend a trip to the steam cleaner before you even start or you probably cannot even see the parts I've described for the forty years of grease and grime.....

Wed Aug 06, 2003 7:02 am

Panelfantastic, Do I have to do this car jacked up, wheel and maybe drum removed, so there is no extra weight on the spindle or just jacked up ?

Wed Aug 06, 2003 7:39 am

I've only done it with it jacked and wheel removed....but I've got a really big melon and long ape-like arms and my bus is dropped so space was not at a premium. If you can fit in there, I don't think the extra weight of it not being jacked up would keep you from making the adjustments. Remember these pins hafta have free movement running up and down the road so just sitting there they should be easy to turn also... it's really easy once you've done it five or six times like I have :roll:
(actually re-done it several times in the learning process)

Thu Aug 07, 2003 6:10 am

Panelfantastic, you were right about the 40 year old mess on them spindles !
I wanted to check 'm again to see if I could understand your 'how to-lesson' about the spindle play, but can't see details...so I will try to clean them up a bit (or two) this weekend, so I can check 'm out...