Spindle nut nightmare

Nope. Not anymore. Not the inner ones for sure anyway. They are sold out and discontinued. They may have outers still available though.

 

I am replacing wheel bearings. Trying get everything off and over to the shop. Hopefully I pulled this off correctly. There was no spindle nut.

 

See that big brass ring behind the brass bushing? That's your spindle nut. It requires 4 pin socket to correctly remove. You've done enough, bring it to the shop and they'll do the rest.

 

I suggest getting new inner and outer seals as well.

 

Ahh I didn't know. It's been a while since I've looked. I had a brass bushing that was distorted due to a crappy bearing job at a shop and it wouldn't properly press fit anymore. I was going to order new ones but just ended up putting some punch marks around the outside of the bushing ans inside the hub where it sits and applied some retaining compound.

 

Looks good. There is not a spindle nut on the *outside* on the manual hub version. On the manual hub version, once you pull the manual hub, there is a snap ring on the end of the cv/axle and thats pretty much it for getting the knuckle off (obviously plus lower and upper balljoints and the tie rod end).

There *is* a spindle nut still on the manual hub version and it is on the inner side of the hub... In your picture, looking at the inner/back side, there is another brass bushing right in the center, and then surrounding that is a ring with 4 holes in it--that is the spindle nut. And it takes a special tool to remove it.

 

Yep. No doubt the inner seal is for sure going to get destroyed as you have to pull it out in order to get the bearing out. Most likely the outer seal is getting destroyed as well, and, even if it doesnt, given the amount of work and cost on a bearing job on the manual hub front, and how far in behind everything that outer seal is, its a no-brainer to spend another $15 USD or so and do that outer seal at the same time.

 

Also, whoever is doing the work... tell them to be extra freaking careful with those brass bushings when they're doing the press work to get the bearing in and out. Like we said, they are not a serviceable part from Toyota, you *may* still be able to get the outer one from ORS, but the inner is most def not-available. If that inner brass bushing is destroyed, you get to buy a new axle hub (which comes complete with the brass bushings and needle bearings) and its a pricey bugger at $200-300, depending where you buy it (so far, only found available through Toyota).

 

Thanks a bunch all. I bought inner and outer seals. 50 bucks a piece for the inners! I got the napa guy to drop it down to 35 since they didn't have the cheaper ones.

 

Shop said they were gonna see how it went but maybe charge me two hours. That's seems like a lot yeah?

 

1 side or both?

You should be charged 1 hour for 1 side at the most, if they want to charge you more than that the shop is not properly equipped.

I used to bring my spindle to a shop to get it done. Now I do it myself. I've had shops tell me before that they absolutely hate the job and it takes them hours because they have to torch everything off. In other words they did shotty work. When I started doing them myself I seen torch marks/holes in the hub, spindle nut damaged from using a punch, needle bearing full of metal flakes, etc.

So in short make sure your bringing it to a shop that has proper press to that has the dies to take the old one out and press the new one in. It shouldn't even take close to an hour with the proper equipment but it's not uncommon to have a 1hr min charge.

 

I could see two hours if they have to fiddle around a bunch--not knowing exactly what they're doing...I've never done it personally, but I've heard it is a giant PITA to press out those bearings...usually cause people don't have a large enough press though....or the right spindle nut tool... FWIW, I had it done once by a Toyota dealer and they charged me $150 for the both. That was about 4 years ago now.

Also FWIW, I just stopped by a shop local to me last week and asked them what they'd charge and tried to get a feel on whether they knew what they were talking about on them... they seemed to know decently what they were talking about and said they had just recently done another one a few weeks back. Said they'd charge me hourly and it should take them around an hour to do both sides. This was a large off-road/custom shop.

 

How did you go from needing brake pads and rotors to a new radiator, and wheel bearings?
Also, there should be (if I remember correctly) a washer separating the outer brass bushings from the snap ring that holds the CV axle into the hub.

I agree with the guy on the 1st page, take the caliper off and smack the hell out of the rotor till it comes off. One solid swing broke mine free, but I don't live in the rust belt.....

 

Yeah thats what he quoted me for both sides. I know he has a 20000 pound press but I guess he had to borrow some kind of other tool from his friends 4x4 shop. Needless to say I didn't get them back tonight. In all fairness I didn't get them to him until like 330 and his hours are until five. I've only had the truck a couple months so I'm really just trying to catch up. Radiator had a hole in the tank. Brakes were definitely in need of some refreshing. Already did a new cat and cat back that quieted her down a lot. Next thing is tires then dakars and something for the front as well. Was good to see pretty recent ball joints today, made the job a lot easier than it could have been.

 

Alright so the fun continues, the first shop had them for almost two days and then told me they couldn't do it. I brought them to Toyota and finally got them back this afternoon right before work. I just made a feeble attempt to get everything back together but gave up being that it's dark and been a long day. I can't seem to get the spindle through enough to get the splined washer and snap ring on. I can't get the end of the cv axle to press back into the new inner oil seal. Soooo close but I'm tired and figured id see what you guys had to say before I got frustrated with it. Did I mention I'm supposed to be moving monday? Uhaul trailer is all packed and ready to go, hooked up to my ladies rodeo. Taco is still on jack stands in the garage lol.

 

Wipe a little grease on the seal.

 

A little late now, but put a bolt into the end of the CV and pull on it. Also, make sure the seal isn't dented causing interference between the CV and seal.

 

Just needed a bit more elbow grease. Ended up putting the studs on my chest and gently pulling on the cv till I heard that nice sound of everything coming together. I always try and use less force at first given I'm not that experienced of a mechanic yet. She feels a lot happier at high speeds and quieter too diminished some of what I thought was tire noise. Definitely still some tire noise but not as bad. Thanks once again everyone!