Off set trailing arms with bearing

seems like a good deal but here's why I am suspicious:

I've seen how much time and work went into the trailing arms that I rebuilt - then price: trailing arms are $300 (offset maybe more), two spindles are $250, bearings, seals and shims are roughly $150 (maybe a little less/more, just using numbers off my memory here), new backing plates $50, ss brake hardware plus shoes another $60 or so... that's a parts total of over $800 and that's not including refurbishing the carrier or labor cost for assembly.

At $1100 for the pair they cannot be making a lot of profit - if they use quality parts and pay their employees more than minimum....
 
What about the grease fittings? No one else does that... Just makes me wonder.
 
I've plugged up several supports that were tapped for grease fittings in arms I've rebuilt. The problem is you can't gauge how much grease to pump in and if it will even get into the bearings. Some holes I found tapped were right on top of the bearing race. No idea who did that and I have never dealt with the company referenced. Properly setup and greased bearings should go a very long time.
 
GTR1999 said:
I've plugged up several supports that were tapped for grease fittings in arms I've rebuilt. The problem is you can't gauge how much grease to pump in and if it will even get into the bearings. Some holes I found tapped were right on top of the bearing race. No idea who did that and I have never dealt with the company referenced. Properly setup and greased bearings should go a very long time.
Click to expand...

I noticed they say that their grease setup is patented. I looked up the patent and there are 2 fittings that are directly aligned with the outer race (as you have seen, Gary). There is a passage way from the outer race to the inside of the bearing. Interesting.

Pattent number 4632202 Inventor: Gerald Narbut
 
BBShark said:
GTR1999 said:
I've plugged up several supports that were tapped for grease fittings in arms I've rebuilt. The problem is you can't gauge how much grease to pump in and if it will even get into the bearings. Some holes I found tapped were right on top of the bearing race. No idea who did that and I have never dealt with the company referenced. Properly setup and greased bearings should go a very long time.
Click to expand...

I noticed they say that their grease setup is patented. I looked up the patent and there are 2 fittings that are directly aligned with the outer race (as you have seen, Gary). There is a passage way from the outer race to the inside of the bearing. Interesting.

Pattent number 4632202 Inventor: Gerald Narbut
Click to expand...


From their web site:

By The Spindle People

For a Corvette owner, the pleasure of driving one of these classic sports cars pales slightly when the odometer turns over 30,000 miles. That’s when it’s time to check and regrease the rear wheel bearings – a costly and time consuming project.

Thanks to an enterprising Corvette owner from way back, this complicated process has become a whole lot simpler.

Jerry Narbut operates The Spindle People in Canfield, Ohio. Talk to him, and he’ll tell you necessity is the mother of invention. It’s what inspired him to invent an exchange spindle assembly that completely eliminates the need for an expensive tear down and re-pack. His assembly is a complete unit equipped with two grease fittings and a bolt-on installation that makes renewal of Corvette rear wheel bearings a snap.

Jerry first became aware of the problems built into maintaining and repairing Corvette rear wheel bearings when he bought his first Corvette in 1969. It wasn’t unit 1978 that he decided to do something about it. He was up to his elbows in grease, working on the rear wheel bearings of a Vette he bought to rebuild, when he reasoned there had to be an easier way. Encouraged by friends and years of tool and die experience under his belt as a supervisor at General Motors, he began to develop ideas for an assembly and tooling fixtures
to build it. He wanted to find a way to “simplify the process”.

In 1980 he sold his first standard assembly. During the next year he worked out the kinks for the grease fittings. There is a U.S. and Canadian patent on the special grease fittings Jerry invented. The fittings are a feature exclusive to The Spindle People. The standard unit now includes the grease fittings, pre-set bearings and races, inner and outer seals, mounting bolts, stainless steel parking brake hardware, spindle nut and cotter pin, new parking brake plate, dust shield and new forged spindle made in the USA. They are shipped pre-packed with a high grade of grease. “We try to make it easy, to give the customer everything he needs to complete the job”. We also make complete unit with every type of new trailing arms, Jerry points out.
 
The PO put those fittings in Ol' Red. I found them when I rebuilt the spindles. One of the problems I see is how do you tell how much grease you pump in? Too much and it could blow one of the seals out and you won't know until you need to stop.
Funny thing about brakes- they don't seem to work real well when they have grease or oil all over them. :eek:
 
Well it seems when it comes to rear bearings there are a lot of thoughts.
Slip fit, grease fittings, endplay setup, turning rotors, axle size,etc.

I plan on sticking to my procedures on rear bearings which will not include grease fittings or slip fitting spindles.

To each his own.
 
how about a vent hole with a threaded plug on the other side of the housing ? Squeeze grese in there until it comes out the other side, then reinstall plug. Brilliant, now I go and get my patent :lol: :lol:
 
It seems like a good idea, you are injecting grease directly into the bearing. I suppose the question is, where do you get bearings that have a hole in the outer race?
 
GTR1999 said:
Well it seems when it comes to rear bearings there are a lot of thoughts.
Slip fit, grease fittings, endplay setup, turning rotors, axle size,etc.

I plan on sticking to my procedures on rear bearings which will not include grease fittings or slip fitting spindles.

To each his own.
Click to expand...

Hey Gary, Jeff has been showing me the photos on the rebuild you did for him. Awesome work!
Quick question, what is your thoughts on the GM bearing greasing tool, apparently you place it on outside of bearing housing and pump 3 squirts of grease into bearing, I guess. Good for a few more miles or waste of time and $. THanks tt
 
Quick question, what is your thoughts on the GM bearing greasing tool

I think they're a waste of time and money, same as the rag joint rebuild kits sold. I've taken apart arms where that tool was used and the new grease never made it into the bearings.
 
GTR1999 said:
Quick question, what is your thoughts on the GM bearing greasing tool

I think they're a waste of time and money, same as the rag joint rebuild kits sold. I've taken apart arms where that tool was used and the new grease never made it into the bearings.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, Another friend, not Jeff, was wanting me to use this thing, I didn't think it was worth the effort to take the half shafts off, thanks for confirming.
tt
 
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