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rays-64
Samba Member
Joined: April 02, 2010
Posts: 343
Location: corona, CA
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 Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 8:22 pm Post subject: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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Everything was fine (besides rough ride due to being down 3 clicks). I installed the Old Speed drop spindles. Install went ok, everything unbolted and re-bolted to new spindle. Went backup 2 clicks. Everything reinstalled and torqued. When backing out and in of the garage (1 MPH) there is a very noticeable front end wobble that appears to be from front right. Wobble is so bad I would not want to drive above 5 mph. I jacked up front end, rocked the 12 o'clock / 6 o'clock and also the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions of the wheel with no notice problems. Everything looks right underneath the front end nothing loose. Tie rods have maybe 1-inch play when I grab the rod and rotate. With front jacked up front wheels spin with no problems and brakes calipers checked. Ball joints are relatively new, bottom ball joints have notches facing front of car and upper ball joints (no notches) have their flat ends parallel with the wheels.
WHAT DID I DO WRONG, what should I look for.  |
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Bobnotch
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2003
Posts: 22431
Location: Kimball, Mi
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| Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:41 pm Post subject: Re: what did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| rays-64 wrote: |
Everything was fine (besides rough ride due to being down 3 clicks). I installed the Old Speed drop spindles. Install went ok, everything unbolted and re-bolted to new spindle. Went backup 2 clicks. Everything reinstalled and torqued. When backing out and in of the garage (1 MPH) there is a very noticeable front end wobble that appears to be from front right. Wobble is so bad I would not want to drive above 5 mph. I jacked up front end, rocked the 12 o'clock / 6 o'clock and also the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions of the wheel with no notice problems. Everything looks right underneath the front end nothing loose. Tie rods have maybe 1-inch play when I grab the rod and rotate. With front jacked up front wheels spin with no problems and brakes calipers checked. Ball joints are relatively new, bottom ball joints have notches facing front of car and upper ball joints (no notches) have their flat ends parallel with the wheels.
WHAT DID I DO WRONG, what should I look for. |
What do you mean by 1"of play? In and out play? Or just rotation movement? How tight were the ball joints ? Meaning, were the shafts floppy, or tight tight? Just asking, because if they're sloppy, they're worn out. But if they're tight, they should still be good. Did you reset the toe in?
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120
| Tram wrote: |
| "Friends are God's way of apologizing for relatives." |
| Tram wrote: |
| People keep confusing "restored" and "restroyed". |
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rays-64
Samba Member
Joined: April 02, 2010
Posts: 343
Location: corona, CA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:50 pm Post subject: Re: what did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| Tie rods have about 1-inch of rotation. Ball joints (only 2,000 miles on them) are not tight tight. Could a bad ball joint make the front have an extreme wobble at very low mph? |
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Erik G
Samba Member
Joined: October 16, 2002
Posts: 13281
Location: Tejas!
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ataraxia
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 4504
Location: Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:00 am Post subject: Re: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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Here's what I'd check:
1. End play in beam at top arms
2. End play in beam at bottom arms
3. Check/adjust steering box
4. Replace tie rods
5. Replace ball joints
My guess, like Erik, is that you've got a bad tie rod end on the right side. |
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rays-64
Samba Member
Joined: April 02, 2010
Posts: 343
Location: corona, CA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:37 pm Post subject: Re: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| Replaced front right tie rod end. No change. Inspected front left tie rod end (could not get tie rod end off of rod), but inspection revealed end to be ok. Spoke with Old Speed, I need to measure spindle shaft, possibly wrong shaft. 1969 is when they changed shafts. So now I need to rip apart and measure shafts, hopefully that is the problem. |
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Bobnotch
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2003
Posts: 22431
Location: Kimball, Mi
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| Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:18 pm Post subject: Re: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| rays-64 wrote: |
| Replaced front right tie rod end. No change. Inspected front left tie rod end (could not get tie rod end off of rod), but inspection revealed end to be ok. Spoke with Old Speed, I need to measure spindle shaft, possibly wrong shaft. 1969 is when they changed shafts. So now I need to rip apart and measure shafts, hopefully that is the problem. |
Actually it's mid 68 when the inner bearing and race size changed. But that sounds like a very good place to look, if everything else checks out.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120
| Tram wrote: |
| "Friends are God's way of apologizing for relatives." |
| Tram wrote: |
| People keep confusing "restored" and "restroyed". |
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rays-64
Samba Member
Joined: April 02, 2010
Posts: 343
Location: corona, CA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:53 pm Post subject: Re: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| Just measured both sides, new spindles are approx. 1/8" to 1/4" smaller. There's my wobble. Nothing on these VW's is easy is it? |
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Bobnotch
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2003
Posts: 22431
Location: Kimball, Mi
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| Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:05 pm Post subject: Re: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| rays-64 wrote: |
| Just measured both sides, new spindles are approx. 1/8" to 1/4" smaller. There's my wobble. Nothing on these VW's is easy is it? |
Ideally you would have checked it before you re-assembled it.  But Russell probably doesn't check the sizes when he builds them. He probably just checks to make sure they're matching sets.
In your case, what you're looking for are new inner seals, bearings and races for a 66 or 67 VW bug or type 3 (they share those bearings and seals).
I hope this helps.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120
| Tram wrote: |
| "Friends are God's way of apologizing for relatives." |
| Tram wrote: |
| People keep confusing "restored" and "restroyed". |
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| Back to top |
|
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rays-64
Samba Member
Joined: April 02, 2010
Posts: 343
Location: corona, CA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:16 pm Post subject: Re: What did I do wrong with new drop spindles |
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| Bobnotch wrote: |
| rays-64 wrote: |
| Just measured both sides, new spindles are approx. 1/8" to 1/4" smaller. There's my wobble. Nothing on these VW's is easy is it? |
Ideally you would have checked it before you re-assembled it. But Russell probably doesn't check the sizes when he builds them. He probably just checks to make sure they're matching sets.
In your case, what you're looking for are new inner seals, bearings and races for a 66 or 67 VW bug or type 3 (they share those bearings and seals).
I hope this helps. |
Thanks, just spoke with Russell and will stop by tomorrow for new seals and bearings. I took the easy way out and picked up a spare pair of spindles that they had in stock instead of just having him use my originals are cores. |
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