Broken Spindle - Driver Side

[Neunelfer]

A few years back I had my spindles raised on my Koni struts.

The shop did a very fine job of cleaning out the factory weld eye, moving the spindle up as far as the body would allow (basically a full 18mm, for those familiar with the Koni tube and the flare) and rewelding. The weld is still solid from the outside (spindle side) but where it seems to have failed is on the inside where it does all of the work, actually connecting to the tube. It's still solidly connected but... you can see it's loose. Shows a good negative camber as well.

I noticed a few fancy looking metal shavings in the drive and though I should examine a bit closer. Upon a visual, I noticed the front of the a-arm resting against the wheel ever so slightly. I took the wheel and tire off thinking that the new bearings may need to be tightened up a tad. I grabbed the rotor to do the wiggle test and sure enough... it wiggled. The only problem was the spindle was wiggling with it!

This is all Chuck's fault. I put the Elephants on the front and I went hunting for "obstacles" so I could test the suppleness of my new suspension (amazing BTW... I highly recommend them). I guess they have an uncanny knack for diagnosing potential strut problems as well!

Thoughts on the repair of this? I'm thinking this strut is probably shot anyway so; any issue you guys can see with running a clean bead of weld around the bottom and top of the spindle just to try and save it?

Anyone have a pair of these (or an orphaned drivers side) available?

[chris_seven]

Can you take a picture of the failure? It would be useful to see if there is a clear reason for the failure.

I am a bit confused by your comment that it is solidly connected but loose.

Obvioulsy there is relative movement so it will only be a matter of time before it fails completely.

If the weld has cracked within the weld region it shouldn't be too much of a problem to grind out the crack and reweld but withoout a picture it is difficult to say.

It is possible that a fatigue failure has started at a notch between the weld and tube. In this case a crack could have developed and have run into the tube at the boundary of the Heat Affected Zone which would be quite difficult to fix.

I would try to take the forging off completely and examine the tube for damage/defects before making a final decision.

[Neunelfer]

Solidly connected meaning the spindle will not come off the strut tube but... you can wabble it so, it's loose.

I could take a picture but it really wouldn't do any good. There's really nothing to see other than the spindle can move.

I agree... in time, it would have failed completely.

Part of me says put a nice bead along the bottom and top and see where it lands. The more rational part of me says "start looking"

Thanks,

E.

[TRE Cup]

Eric
is the strut on your car the one with the earlier version spindle nut (smaller diameter like 914 ) ? If so these are prone to breakage over time, especially if used hard on the track. We have also seen this happen on the later ones too (big stick tires and rims)
They crack near the base where they meet the casting welded to the strut. We have never seen a pro modified spindle casting break loose from the strut tube, so its most likely the spindle itself that has cracked.
Do NOT drive it ! Put it up on stands, pull off the rim, hub, and inspect carefully with a magnifying glass.

Do NOT reweld it ! Get another strut, preferably a 72 or newer unit. You will need to get a different ball joint and draw pin to work with it. The early ball joint has a bolt that passes thru the bottom of the strut and retains a half moon cut on the ball joint. The 72 /newer (larger spindles) use a V cut ball joint and special threaded pin

[Neunelfer]

Oh it's up and off... that was the easy part. I'm getting pretty good at it; around 20 minutes.

These are the late model struts with the draw pin.

These were modified with the original weld taken out and the spindle moved all the way up to the flange. I believe the tube has broken away (internally) from the later weld when they welded it back into it's new position. There are no appearant cracks to the spindle. I'm having it bead blasted to further inspect.

Meanwhile; I'm on the hunt for a new pair.

Who is in the business of raising spindles? I heard there's a guy in CO doing it??

Thanks!

E.

[davep]

I'd suspect that someone that can modify a strut (reliably) could tell if that one is repairable. It would have to be aligned properly before welding.

[jays72T]

Meanwhile; I'm on the hunt for a new pair.

Who is in the business of raising spindles? I heard there's a guy in CO doing it??

Thanks!

E.[/QUOTE]

Call Elephant, Chuck always has good advice.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Meanwhile; I'm on the hunt for a new pair.

Who is in the business of raising spindles? I heard there's a guy in CO doing it??

Thanks!

E.

I can do that for you, if you wish,...

[Neunelfer]

Steve,thanks for offering to call Chuck for me.

PM Sent.

E.

[Neunelfer]

Thanks all... I've got 2 pair of 74 date coded struts on the way. Good to have backups at this point as both my cars have these struts.

I'm trying to decide if I want to raise the spindles this time around. The 911 will be a street car for the most part while the 914 will be the track car. Both currently have their spindles raised. This lesson has me wondering... thoughts?