Why would a spindle bend.....

[dontlifttoshift]

.......the wrong way?

The best way I can describe it is that the spindle bent in a positive camber direction. After a recent trip to the alignment shop I noticed a loss of negative camber on the drivers side but didn't think much of it. I am in the process of swapping front brakes and had to press a bearing adapter off and I threw the spindle in the lathe to polish it. Passenger side spun perfect but the drivers side had a wobble so I rechucked it a couple of times and it was still there. Got the dial indicator out and I got .025" of runout.

I am not surprised by this given my application but what I don't understand is why it bent the direction it did. I'll get a new set of spindles coming in the morning, but I'm looking for thoughts on this one cause I don't get it.

Donny

[Bryce]

HMM....... I gotta think about this one!

[dontlifttoshift]

Bryce, I knew you would be on this one. I am pretty sure these came from SoCal so they are forged and should be 1045. The other option is forged 1018. Pretty sure the 1045 is my best bet.

[JRouche]

Spindles dont bend The amount of force required to bend the spindle in use would have ruined MANY other parts first. Gotta feeling the 25 thou runout was there all along. BUT...?? What made it noticeable NOW? Thats the question. JR

[Bryce]

It sounds like maybe you hit a curb? I know you would have said if this happened.

Any issue with the wheel on that side?

[dontlifttoshift]

JR, I know what you mean but.....

I did hit a curb last year and did bend a spindle and a whole bunch of other stuff. That's when I put these spindles on. That bent spindle ran out way more than this one.

Bryce, no issues with anything on that side that I can see at this point.

[monteboy84]

Spindles dont bend The amount of force required to bend the spindle in use would have ruined MANY other parts first. Gotta feeling the 25 thou runout was there all along. BUT...?? What made it noticeable NOW? Thats the question. JR

I beg to differ. I've witnessed it more times than I can count on race cars.

Was that a used spindle when you got it?

-matt

[dontlifttoshift]

Spindles were new as of June 2010. It really doesn't bother me that it bent, maybe it should, but it's just so damn weird that it bent the way it did.

[silver69camaro]

Spindles absolutely can be bent!

What kind of spindles are these? Don't tell me Chinese Mustang II...

[dontlifttoshift]

Nope, SoCal forged 1045 steel. Reproduction 37-41 Ford.....

[silver69camaro]

I'd love to know the answer to this.

[JRouche]

I wrote while thinking, not good for me Yes, a spindle can get bend, no doubt.

But I was interpreting the OP'er didnt have any traumatic events that would contribute to a bent spindle. And he didnt talk about all the other byproducts that come with a bent spindle while driving.

You know, like bent control arms, bent wheels, bent tie rods. That kinda stuff.

Sometimes when I write I leave out the apparent obvious stuff. Like when I say spindles dont bend. I would think it obvious to most here that YES, a spindle can be bent. But there sure as heck is gonna be some other collateral damage that would point to why it bent. And I think the OP'er knows that and so I shorten up my reply.

So yeah, now I write in more detail to provide a better understanding for some of the other folks.

YUP!! A spindle can be bent, just like ANY other part on a car. BUT.. Without any additional damage to the suspension I dont really see a spindle getting bent.

Not to say it couldnt. Some specialized racing cars might have some really light weight (but strong) uprights and there could be some damage to the spindle without any other parts being damaged. But even then I kinda doubt it cause the other parts of the suspension on a highly tuned (read very expensive racing car) will have the entire suspension kinda matched for strength and weight so you will still see collateral damage if the spindle was subjected to enough force to cause damage.

And so Donny would not have posted his thoughts on the subject, he is bright enough to determine if there was a heavy impact on that side of the car that it would bend the spindle.

So YES Spindles CAN be bent, heck Ive seen some heavy carnage to where the spindle was ripped and you could see the nice shiny grain structure in the rip. But then there was also some loss of life not to mention ALL the other indicators to why the spindle bent and tore. JR

[dontlifttoshift]

I'd love to know the answer to this.

Me too, but I really can't think of any way it could have happened. You want it? I will send it to you. You can use your magic engineer x ray vision.



I would really sleep easier if it bent the other way

[JRouche]

Me too, but I really can't think of any way it could have happened. You want it? I will send it to you. You can use your magic engineer x ray vision.

I would really sleep easier if it bent the other way

"Thats what she said!" Solly, too much of The Office show LOL