hey guys,

So my ball joint part of the front drivers spindle has damaged threads. I am looking for a replacement spindle and note the 5 lug versions are much more expensive than the 4 lugs. I was wondering if since people do the 5 lug conversion, can I do sorta the same thing and use the spindle from a 4 lug car with my 5 lug hub?

Is there any difference in the spindles themselves?

Is there a need to replace the bearing when doing this? Are the bearing the same between the two?

Any problem taking the 4 lug hub out of the spindle and just sticking my 5 lug hub back on? Should I replace the bearings, seals? Can I just clean and repack the bearings?

I greatly appreciate any info on this particular swap. I'd also appreciate any links or diagrams that show how the bearings are seated in the hubs.


Thanks and have a great day,
NJGB

 

Maybe I should clarify?

I know they should be interchangeable due to the 4 to 5 lug conversions everyone is doing. My concern is mainly about the bearings once taken apart. My plan was to pull my 5 lug hub off my current spindle, pull the 4 lug hub off it's spindle and then reassemble my 5 lug hub on the 4 lug spindle.

Am I going to have to replace the bearings if they were both good to start? Are the same bearings used in either case? Would I be better off buying the inner, outer bearings and seals and just replace them all at the same time?

I just don't want to pull everything apart and find I don't have the proper parts ready to reassemble.

Thanks in advance,
NJGB

 

This is technically called the steering knuckle (with an integral spindle). yes the part numbers are the same between 4 and 5 lug S4 cars. And yes you can swap the whole hub over (including bearings) to the new knuckle/spindle assembly. As long as the bearing remains with it's proper race (which is pressed into the hub) it is usable on any FC spindle.

The only important thing to remember is races are matched with their bearings at the factory. You cannot put a different bearing into a hub unless you punch out the race.

If the hub has known good bearings. I would just repack them and reassemble.

 

If I understand correctly, all the bearings are contained in the hub itself? So this makes it pretty straight forward then, just remove the hubs and swap over.

I was thinking one of the races or something was pressed onto the spindle and would remain there when taken apart. I was afraid of mismatching between the 5 lug hub guts and some part of the old bearing or race stuck on the new donor spindle.

This is great cause I can get 4 lug knuckles for $20.

One more question for you, do you know the specs of the bolt for the balljoints pinch joint?

Thanks a lot for your help here,
NJGB

 

Well, sorta. It's all a "package deal". Meaning the bearings go with the hub. But if you take the hub off, the outer bearing will fall out unless you hold it in with your thumbs, and the inner bearing will also move around but not fall out unless you remove the hub seal. Which you should, so you can repack the bearings and put new seals in place...

Not off hand on the torque spec, but its in the FSM, which is "free"...

 

That all sounds great, I had actually bought a 4 lug hub last year by accident and ended up scrapping it cause I got confused about the bearings and thought I was out of luck. I have another on the way, should be able to do the repair this weekend.

I was actually referring the thread specs for the bolt not the tq. I'll check it out, thanks again for your help here.

 

Okay I wa sable to get this done last night, took two hours due to stupid set screws being seized into the brand new rotors, ughh. Used a new trick I learned with a punch and hammer to free the frozen screws.

Anyways it's a pretty straight forward job once you get the idea. Here are some pics from the job, maybe some one will find this helpful in the future.

Go ahead and pull the wheel and brakes off:


Remove the cotter pin, keeper and nut from the spindle end. Pull the hub towards you a bit, then back towards the car, this pushes the outer bearing off the spindle and lets you grab it before it drops. Remove the hub:



Donor 4 Lug Spindle with hub removed, note the brake shield is smaller than the 5 lug and needs to be switched, other than that they are identical:




So then you unbolt the strut to knuckle, undo the tie rod and ball joint, remove the old spindle. Install new spindle, swap the shield, regrease the bearings and reinstall the hub onto the new spindle, reassemble brakes and wheel:



People were asking as much as $180 for a 5 lug hub and spindle, this was done for $20 using a 4 lug spindle. I'd call that a success.

Have a good day,
NJGB