That wear with the evidence of galling occurred during past bearing failure. For the most part off of these spindles with the bearing tolerances allow the inner race to spin slightly, I have yet to see this as a press fit. The little bit they may spin while loaded is addressed by the lubricant. That galling occurs  when the rollers fail and the bearing race has to turn under the load. Usually if the rollers fail due to a lubrication failure the spindle doesn’t stand a chance. 

A sharp punch can be used to make a few small dimples to tighten the bearing fit. I usually do three evenly spaced. You don’t want to make the fit too tight as then adjustment becomes difficult.  Loctite "Quick Metal" can also be helpful here however that will have to be dealt with during future servicing. 

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Neil N
Sent: Friday, January 8, 2016 12:55 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Steering Knuckle Axle Stub Wear PICS

Hi all.

In light of steering knuckle chat, purely for the sake of gaining knowledge....

Close up images of bearing race wear on a '85 non PS steering knuckle:

https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/January82016#

Hard to say without measuring, but is this knuckle now unserviceable?
Or, would new bearings fit tight enough so each race wouldn't spin on axle?
Is this wear typical? Does it indicate that the bearings were set too loose?  (they were well lubed).

My guess is that a new set of properly adjusted bearings should last a while on a part in this condition. Or would they?

Thanks

Neil.

--
Neil n

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