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1929 Buick in need of a new spindle


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Are you sure it's the spindle and not the axle or tie rod that is bent?  

 

See this page and the following two pages:

http://oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Buick/1929/Reference Book/pages/reference_book_41-60_Page_06_jpg.htm

614896674_1929Buick.jpg.7b5135e1ee7560210b4efc9095f1ffd0.jpg

Edited by Gary_Ash (see edit history)
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...unless it's a bent steering arm on one spindle.   

 

Put alignment equipment on the car to check "Tow Out at Turns", then if one side is bent, you will see the difference in total degrees when wheels are turned to 20 degrees.   

 

To check Tow Out at Turns; set one wheel turned/(steered) to 20, then read the other side and it should be around 21 or 21.5., or maybe 22.

 

Then turn that other side to 20 the opposite way, to see if that other one now reads the same (21-22) or very close.  If one steering arm is bent, one side will read very different in total degrees

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I can see with the naked eye that the right wheel sits in a different angle than the left, and the tyre wears much more on the outside than on the inside. When I take the wheel off, i can measure that the brake drum sits in a different angle than the brake plate. The difference measured from the brake plate (the edge of the shoe) is c. 3 mm more at the top than at the bottom. This is why I thought that the spindle would be bent at the point where the wheel bearings end. I wonder whether there would be any way to bend it back? May it crack? I cannot try bending it with the wheel on, that would just ruin the wheel, but what if I took the wheel and bearings off and placed a long rod or metal tube on the spindle axle and pushed it upwards? A few mm would be enough. What do you think? Perhaps I am not explaining this very clearly!

 

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In 1929 Buick reference book page 47 explains the camber, and this is what I think is wrong in my car. The camber is too much. There must have been an accident (the car has probably been driven quite hard as it has been a police car in the 1930s),and he spindle has been bent. In the reference book it says that it is possible to straighten the spindle. But how?

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I would put the car on an alignment rack and actually take readings........then I would figure out the next step. Springs, shackles, axle, shims, the list is endless. And there could be multiple bent parts........diagnose the problem, don't guess. And it isn't easy to find someone today who is familiar with early cars. Be prepared to take the entire front end out of the car............

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All of the above advice is good, especially that of Ed and F&J. They are both knowledgeable mechanics with years of experience dealing with the odd problems endemic to old cars. I doubt the spindle is bent but you can check it by taking the wheel off. If the spindle were bent the bearings would not line up. ( I've never seen a bent spindle and I've had a lot of badly abused cars apart.) If they do...and you'd notice immediately if they didn't, that part is straight. As to rebending it...NO! It was a heat treated forging. You'd have to get it very hot in order to have any chance of bending it and that would almost certainly ruin the heat treating. And, you'd have no way of knowing it was straight. This is not something that can be done "by eye"...the alignment of the bearings with the cups in the hub is critical. Two or three thousandths might not make a difference but you cannot get that sort of accuracy with improvised methods.

 

 

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