Hey,

Ive got an 87 SE that i replaced the front bearings on last year. The spindle threads on the driver side were pretty chew up (bad enough that I had to split the nut open to get it off). I salvaged it as best I could with a tap n die, and all went well on reassembly. But recently I noticed a warped rotor sound (like a dust cover rubbing) coming from the driver side when I take a hard right. Pressing the brakes doesnt change the tone so I ruled out a bad rotor (which was also replaced with the bearings anyway). When I jacked up the front tire I had noticeable top/bottom wiggle. I re-tightened the nut according to the ogres specs and the hub stopped wiggling but the wheel still had a little wiggle. Took a test drive and the sound was not only still there but hadn't changed at all. Almost like I didnt even mess with what was causing the sound.

Ive tried researching spindle replacements including the pontiac 1000 and chevette compatible parts but im really not finding much available. I tried researching spindle upgrades but everyone only really seems to be doing upgrades on 88. So I guess my question is if anyone has had issues with 84-87 spindles and how you went about replacing or fixing it. Because at this point I cant figure out what else could cause that sound, and im out of ideas on how to fix this spindle besides just redoing the bearings again.

are you sure its not a bad ball joint or something and the tire is rubbing?

quote Originally posted by richard in nc: are you sure its not a bad ball joint or something and the tire is rubbing?

Could be, but im not getting a popping when I wedge a bar under the tire. And the ball joint would have to entirely fall out to scrape against the rim because I have 17 inch rims. Im trying to think of what other part could come loose and rub due to loose ball joints. Everything is rather also attatched to the knuckle and would move with the rotor or isnt close enough.

I swung by the junkyard and their fiero still had a spindle and knuckle. Im a little dumbfounded that they charged me an extra $7 for the rusted out rotor and bearing as if I was going to reuse them. At least they had one though because im starting to assume someone in my shoes with a stripped spindle is gonna have to have a machine shop weld and tap it.