HELP with spindle on 85 high sierra 4wd

[mikeinmaine]

Hi All, I am brand new to this community but it looks awesome and look forward to being part of it. So i bought a 85 gmc high sierra 4wd from my buddy whos father had passed and it is in awesome shape and look forward to running it,,anyway i have always owned 88 and up with independent front suspension,,,So when i bought it it needed a front right axle that was broken ears and ujoint gone so i bought an axle and ball joints and put the ball joints in the spindle and with the axle in the tube there is no way i can get the ball joints into the axle carrier and onto the axle too so i took the lower ball joint out and still cant get the spindle in place PLEASE HELP ME,,,,,,I feel very stupid that i cant figure it out as i thought i was a pretty good mechanic.

 

[89Suburban]

I am interested in this answer too.

My old Dodge 4x4's had a big enough opening in the knuckle for the axle shaft to slide out. I never had a GM one apart....

 

[crazy4offroad]

Pull the axleshaft out, that should give you clearance.

 

[Beatdown Z]

Okay, so you mean "knuckle" when you say spindle, right?

Have you tried installing the knuckle without the axle installed. Install the knuckle, then remove the spindle from the knuckle, install the axle, then reinstall the spindle.

 

[mikeinmaine]

spindle/knuckle

so i need to take off spindle from knuckle then i can slide the shaft thru the hole in knuckle then reinstall the spindle? i did not realize that as i only have experiance with 88+up which has cv joints and auto lock hubs and that slides on over the shaft. And yes i was calling the whole unit the spindle and it is ,as i now know spindle/knuckle ,,,,,THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STRAITENING ME OUT In the morning will get on it and tell you all how it went

 

[mikeinmaine]

Thanks BEATDOWN Z,,,,MORE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[89Suburban]

 

[mikeinmaine]

Hi again,,,,well i couldnt wait and i just went down to the garage and checked it out ,,1st thing is how do you remove the spindle from the knuckle ? there are 6 odd (?)nuts on back of knuckle that are round with a flat side BUT 3 of those are up against the knuckle so even if there is a socket for that it wont fit,,,also i measured the ujoint at its widest and the hole in the knuckle and the u joint seems 1/4" bigger?????so if it does go strait thru it seems too small an opening?? SO PLEASE HELP MORE,,,LOL,,WAS EXCITED FOR A MINUTE!

 

[crazy4offroad]

Take the 6 nuts off, knock the brake dust shield off, knock the spindle off, slide the shaft out. Dont worry, it'll come out.

 

[mikeinmaine]

do you gotta take the spindle/hub/rotor off then there must be 6 nuts behind that? in front of brake shield???????THANKS FOR THE HELP BUD,,GUESS I REALLY NEED IT TODAY,,LOL

 

[crazy4offroad]

do you gotta take the spindle/hub/rotor off then there must be 6 nuts behind that? in front of brake shield???????THANKS FOR THE HELP BUD,,GUESS I REALLY NEED IT TODAY,,LOL

Correct.

 

[mikeinmaine]

Knuckle mounted on truck!!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP ,I WENT BACK OUT TO GARAGE AND TOOK HUB/SPINDLE RIGHT APART THEN 6 NUTS AND WAS DOWN TO KNUCKLE AND NOW KNUCKLES BOLTED ON AND AXLE SHAFT IN PLACE

NOW I CAN SLEEP GOOD TONIGHT AND WILL HAVE HER BACK ON THE ROAD TOMORROW,,,,YEE-HAHH.

THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED ME ,I REALLY MEAN IT!!!!

 

[oneluckypops]

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP ,I WENT BACK OUT TO GARAGE AND TOOK HUB/SPINDLE RIGHT APART THEN 6 NUTS AND WAS DOWN TO KNUCKLE AND NOW KNUCKLES BOLTED ON AND AXLE SHAFT IN PLACE

NOW I CAN SLEEP GOOD TONIGHT AND WILL HAVE HER BACK ON THE ROAD TOMORROW,,,,YEE-HAHH.

THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED ME ,I REALLY MEAN IT!!!!

Make sure you preload the Bearings, and install the Axle nuts CORRECTLY.

 

[mikeinmaine]

THANKS I WILL CAN OF GREASE RIGHT NEXT TO IT ALL READY FOR AM,,,AND WILL MAKE SURE OF CORRECT NUT SEQUENCE AS TOOK OF AND STACKED IN ORDER. THANKS FOR THE HELP oneluckypops,,,,,,,,,,

 

[bucket]

After getting the bearings properly tightened, make sure get the lock nut really tight.

So I'm wondering, how did you remove the knuckle without pulling the axle?