Replacing front spindle does the hub need replacing?

[alkemyst]

The FSM is a little confusing on this and I have one dealership saying yes and another saying maybe/probably not.

I have a 1998 SE, I need to replace the front passenger spindle. The manual refers to the Wheel hub bearing and Wheel hub bearing assembly. It says if the Wheel hub bearing assembly is removed it must be renewed, the old assembly must not be reused. For the back hub this same paragraph only mentions the wheel hub bearing. I think the first is just referring to if you are trying to replace the bearing itself.

I also am not sure if the lower ball joint should be done or not now....I only have 73k on the whole car.

Anyone know/have done this job?

Just want to mention SPLParts is the best. Got the tension rods, nismo brace, kazama outers and moog inner tie rods done.

Chris

[orion::S14]

The hubs can be removed and reused, no problem. I think the FSM is refering to replacing the bearings as you said...

But what happened to damage the spindle? Enough force or impact can ruin bearings...

- Brian

[orion::S14]

Oh...and my lower ball joit has ~115k on it and is fine...no play, no leaking grease, the boot is still intact, etc...

But I'm going to replace it soon anyway, just to be on the safe side...and slap on some LCA bushings while I'm at it.

[alkemyst]

The story on the spindle was I ordered some tie rod ends that were supposed to work from SPLParts from another Nissan that was beefier and allowed for a little bumpster adjustment. He mentioned they were trying them out and not actually offering them so I had no surprises going into this. Now I knew the spindle was not going to sit all the way down on the end. However, it wouldn't sit at all and I used a wire brush thinking it would fix the problem.

Still no go, the cotter pin hole was still about a full turn away after I worked on it. However Kuah said no problem send the old inner and outers back and he'd send me Moog Inners with Kazama outers to make up for it. (this is a big $$$ upgrade from what I paid).

Got them FAST! but I learned I screwed up my spindle trying to brush it out (the outer tie rod is now loose fitting).....Kuah again stepped up when I asked him how much can I buy a spindle through him for....he has it covered and it's on it's way!

I am definitely giving them my business on my chassis bracing in the next few months. Hands down the best customer service I have ever encountered from any vendor and I am 33 years old, probably over 2000 online transactions under my belt...no matter how obvious a problem is most vendors will totally ignore you after the sale unless you have another one riding in. Kuah had answered a ton of my emails up front, was easy to get hold of after my card was charged and when problems arised raised the bar up a notch on my expectations.

I wish that company the best definitely. My Nismo Power Brace, SPL Tension Rods, Dust caps, Steering Rack boots, and tie rods all came quickly and packaged excellent. I am really happy with the whole experience.

[projectRDM]

I don't see how that damaged the spindle at all. It sounds like you didn't put the supplied spacer with the Kazama rod end on. The spindle is a pretty serious piece, unless you grinded on it or drilled it it should be fine.

As far as the hub, S14s do not have replaceable front bearings, so it's a one piece unit. Nissan recommends you repalce the spindle nut, not the hub itself. The nut is notched from the factory and when removing it, it sometimes can be damaged, but I've always resued them and just banged a new notch in when finished.

[alkemyst]

supplied spacer? the spacer controls how high or how low the rod end will sit not how the spindle and pin fit.

The original tie rods sent were about twice as thick at the base as my S14 ones and about 1.5 times as long (pin length). However the cotter pin hole would not clear the castle nut...so I tried to wire brush and ream the hole out a bit on the spindle.

Regardless of what happened when the tie rod end is inserted into the spindle now there is play in it, where the left side is snug.