I installed a set of BT spindles about a month and half ago and last weekend I had the left outer wheel bearing go out. It got so hot that the bearing welded itself to the spindle and I had to chip it off with a chisel and then grind it down to the spindle to get a new bearing on. Needless to say that the shaft is not true anymore but I was 250 miles from home and had to get back somehow. Today i finally got some time to take everything apart again and figure out what caused the bearing to go out. The bearings only had about 20k on them and are the National brand from O'Reilly's. I regreased them when changing over to the new spindles and they all looked fine. I seated the bearing using this method;Tighten the spindle nut to 30 ft. lbs. (40 Nm) while rotating the brake disc clockwise to seat the wheel bearings.Back off the nut 2 full turns.While rotating the disc counterclockwise, tighten the nut to 17-24 ft. lbs. (23-34 Nm).Back off the spindle nut about 1 / 2 turn.Tighten the spindle nut to 17 inch lbs. (2 Nm).
That's the same procedure I did when I replaced the them about 20k ago and never had a problem. This leads me to believe that it wasn't an installation error on my part.

Now what I found today seems to be a bit strange and this is where I really need some feedback. The BT spindles come with a washer with a tab to keep it from spinning I'm assuming. This tap was pressed all the way against the end of the grove on the spindle and was bent back. Is that normal, because now I'm thinking due to the washer not being able to slide in more caused the bearings not to seat properly. I measured the shaft length and its the same as factory spindle but the factory spindle allows for that washer to move in closer by about a mm or so. I attached some pics of the BT spindle (the one that didn't get ruined) and washer.













That tab on the washer was flat and square, as you can see it fit the end of the spindle grove and was bent.

 

Looks like it may have been overtightened perhaps, not too sure about the belltech spindles having problems like that

 

Looks like the spindle slot wasn't machined far enough

 

That's exactly what I was thinking Patman. Before I inspected everything closely I too though maybe I had over tightened, but you can get the BT spindle nut as tight as it will go and the rotor will continue to spin freely with no sign of friction. I remember doing this with the stock spindles and the rotor will lock up after you go so far. Since I used a torque wrench to seat the bearings I never second guessed it. I sent Belltech an email with the pics I took and my issue, hopefully it is the groove and they'll warranty the spindles as they both seem to have the same problem.

Just to get more knowledge on the subject, what method do you guys use to seat wheel bearings?

 

guess its also possible the taper is cut too far back (just behind where the threads stop)

 

I'd be calling beltech.

 

Yeah, I know. Old thread. But I haven't seen anyone else think of this:

I had the exact same problem with I installed spindles on my Expy. I had to use an extra washer behind the one supplied with the spindles, to keep the tab from bottoming out in the end of the keyway. Torqued everything similarly to the OP, and so far, to issues.

 

Has anyone reported this to Belltech's tech team???

 

I haven't bothered. If I did, I'd also complain about how much material I had to grind off the spindle castings to allow the brake calipers to fit properly, and question the decision to retain the lower ball joint with nothing more than a jam nut to allow wheel clearance. I've dealt with lots of aftermarket parts, some of which didn't fit all that well. But these were among the worst I've experienced. Given that, the need to add a washer under the retaining nut seemed like no big deal.

 

Companies can't make necessary changes without customer feedback. Are you using the spindles on a 04-08 model?

 

No. '97-'02. Belltech kit 2350:

http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/bell-tech-2350/

The lower balljoint nut issue is well-known. The only workaround I'm aware of is to have the spindle counterbored to recess a heavier nut, drill and safety wire it. I didn't do all that. I used red Loctite on the nut. And I reasoned that the vehicle loads the ball joint taper in compression anyway, so it just has to keep the taper tight. I'll just inspect the nut periodically.

 

The bottom nut required a hammer and chisel to mushroom the last thread to prevent the nut from backing off. One of my bottom nuts popped the threads when torqued to spec. I definitely agree that that lower nut should either be bigger like the factory nut or a hardened one would of been nice. The nuts they sent me could not of been beyond a grade 5, On our heavy trucks Grade 8 would be more like it. Pure lack of judgement by belltech in that regard.

 

^^^ Weird, my link shows up as Amazon in the original post. Not what I pasted. I'm not allowed to link to where I bought them? ^^^

 

I was worried about that happening. So I used the castle nut supplied with the LCA (Moog), to torque it to 110 ft-lbs. Then I removed that nut, installed the BT-supplied one, and torqued it to 85 ft-lbs with red Loctite. I didn't want to deform the threads, in case I ever need to take it apart.

It turns out that in my case (OEM Lightning wheels), there was just enough room for a full nut (not a castle nut, a regular one), but the wheel clearance was less than 1/16 in. I wasn't comfortable with it that close. I was afraid if I hit a pothole and bent the wheel, it would lock up at speed and make a bad situation much worse. As it is, there's about 1/4 in clearance.

 

sweet. If I had my 20's on all the time I would of been cool, But with 18's you have to sacrifice the ball joint threads. There had to be a better way. But oh well, They got our money... I'm pretty sure that's all that counts these days.