New improved spindle lock nut kits

[ezzzzzzz]

If you've ever had to fight the awful bending lock washers on the trail or even in the driveway you know what a crappy design it is. I've fabbed up these kits to replace those lock washers once and for all. This is the same basic design as Dana and Warn use for the tried and true Dana axle spindles. The washers are 13 ga lazer cut using the same ID and OD dimensions of the original thin metal washers. The inner nut is jigged and drilled then a hardened pin is pressed in. Installation is easy and repeatable hundreds of times. The inner nut is installed, pin out, and tightened against the washer/bearing to pre-load spec then slightly backed off. The lock washer is installed to align with the pin. If it is alignment is slightly off you simply loosen the inner nut until the pin/hole meets. Install the outer nut, torque to spec and you're done. No prying, peening, hammering out and old washers ever again. The kit comes with 4 inner pinned nuts and 4 lock washers. You reuse your inner nut as the outside nut (it usually isn't scarred from chisels or screwdrivers). The first time you install these you'll wonder why Land Rover never thought of this!
The initial production run was for 6 vehicles. One kit is already sold. Additional runs are planned in the next couple of weeks.
Each kit is $90 including free shipping USPS within CONUS. PAYPAL gifting is the preferred method of payment. Contact me for shipments out of country to determine additional shipping rate charges.

 

[robertf]

looks like the same idea the lock nuts on my IH Scout used, which happens to thread on to a rover spindle

 

[ezzzzzzz]

The thread pattern (1.625-16) is the same across many manufacturers. The lock washer is unique to the LR. Also, the nuts used by IH, Dodge, Ford, etc are thicker and do not allow full thread engagement on the shorter LR spindle without turning it down on a metal lathe (4 times). My kit does both.

 

[Jimmy]

Good on you. Have always disliked the stock setup. I contacted Stage 8 years ago asking if they'd get around to making a set for LRs, but they weren't willing.

 

[MM3846]

Good on you. Have always disliked the stock setup. I contacted Stage 8 years ago asking if they'd get around to making a set for LRs, but they weren't willing.

This! The Ford/GM setup is nicer but still sucks. Stage 8s are the way to go.

 

[ezzzzzzz]

Really? $75 a corner? While I agree it is a very good design it is major overkill for 99% of truck owners. Millions of 4x4s have used to OEM design for decades without serious flaws. Those rock crawlers running huge tires and performing incredible feats could probably benefit from the extra security... not so much the average 4wheelers. Web searches have failed to prove this wrong. If there is an issue it is the installers failure to preload properly (50 lbft) and torque the outer nut to spec (120-150 lbft). Drilling and tapping the outer nut to accept a set screw would add insurance but was considered enough overkill by Warn that they dropped it on their Dana 35 spindle nut kits.

 

[MM3846]

You can get them for ~$50-60 a corner. The issue with the design with the nipple and hole washer thing is that it breaks off VERY easily, and then everything loosens up. The stage 8 setup also holds it's torque a LOT better than any stock design... even the RAVE recommends re-torqueing the nuts after off road travel. Having had a spindle nut on a dana 44 loosen up on the highway and I ended up wasting a bearing and locking a wheel (off road, at slow speed thankfully) I ponied up for stage 8s and never worried again. I almost prefer the Rover setup TBH, since it allows for "room" to set the spindle nuts. With the nipple washer thing, you only have those holes as set points of engagement, and sometimes one is a little too tight, and one is a little too loose.

Not dissing your work, bc it's a great step forward, and it looks a LOT better than the GM/Ford nipple thing which is way tiny. Just saying that stage 8s are worth it even for a daily driver. I'd be calling you for a set if I didn't just do all my bearings and shit recently.

 

[ezzzzzzz]

We just installed a set of these on a '99 DI while upgrading the rotors and calipers. The owner was very pleased at how fast it could be accomplished. The inner nut has been double pinned to eliminate the concern that MM3846 had regarding pin shear. To get these out here the price for the set is dropped to $75 shipped by USPS while initial supply last. Kits for the earlier lock washer are coming soon.

 

[MM3846]

Now thats nice.

 

[p m]

Is there anything that prevents the jam nut from loosening up?

 

[robertf]

there was an allen set screw on the ones my scout had

 

[p m]

That would work, but I don't see anything like that in this kit.

 

[ezzzzzzz]

There is no need for the set screw. The jam nut is torqued to 135-150lbft. It won't come loose unless you've possibly had complete bearing failure and everything explodes. Dana-Spicer has seen no need for this extra step ever. Warn once did it for the D35 but they decided the cost wasn't justified either. If it would make someone happier I could produce the outer nut with 2 set screws for an additional charge. You could drill and tap your own nut to 8-32 and pick up set screws locally. You'd want to use a cone type set screw, not a point.

 

[robertf]

Dana-Spicer has seen no need for this extra step ever.

those IH axles I was referring to were dana/spicer

and my cj used a lock washer just like the rover

 

[ezzzzzzz]

^ that's nice. Your CJ must have been a very early model. My modified IIA used '84 D44's from a CJ7. Both used the lock washer but there was no pins to firmly locate the inner nut. As noted, if set screws are desired I can modify outer nuts but the owner can easily perform this task too. The inner nuts and pins are another matter as a drill press cannot provide the accuracy of the pin hole. I use a Bridgeport mill and carbide end mills for that task.

 

[robertf]

^ that's nice. Your CJ must have been a very early model. My modified IIA used '84 D44's from a CJ7.

do you mean wagoneer? an 84 cj7 did not have those axles

 

[ezzzzzzz]

You got me, Robert. Good job! The rear D44 did come out of an '84 CJ7 (these were used to finish up that year's production when the Jeep rear axle was not available. The front D44 came out of an earlier IH Scout (don't recall the year but want to say it was a '72 or '73). I narrowed it and twisted the knuckles to set caster. That was back in the mid nineties so it slipped my mind.

 

[p m]

There is no need for the set screw. The jam nut is torqued to 135-150lbft.

You got me thinking...
I usually torque the jam nut to about 50-80 lb-ft - because going to twice that much on a nut that's barely 1/4" thick and has somewhat chamfered (if not rounded off) edge is a "field repair time bomb."

Last Tuesday I had to get the spindles off a Classic that took a Snap-On 52mm 3/4" socket and 4-foot breaker bar to get the jam nuts off - one of these things when a chisel or flathead can completely shear off the corner of the nut but wouldn't budge it. A regular axle nut socket (thin-walled with welded-on flange) was also completely useless.

So... my personal preference would be to have an Allen set screw on a jam nut. But I am fine with the stock Rover setup (to the extent of fitting a pair of Rover axles to an old Wagoneer). I'd pay extra $10 for this capability.

 

[robertf]

You got me, Robert. Good job! The rear D44 did come out of an '84 CJ7 (these were used to finish up that year's production when the Jeep rear axle was not available. The front D44 came out of an earlier IH Scout (don't recall the year but want to say it was a '72 or '73). I narrowed it and twisted the knuckles to set caster. That was back in the mid nineties so it slipped my mind.

that was 86, not 84, but we're getting way off topic.

You claimed spicer never used a set screw or lock washer on the outer nut, and so far we have come up with several examples where they have and non where they haven't.


Your product is neat. if it had the set screw I'd buy 2 sets, but those should be standard, not options. Without the set screw its pretty half assed. I don't care if you drill the hole holes on a bridgeport, okuma, or a grizzly, they need to be there.

Think about it this way

You sell 25 of those and all 25 of those last the life of the vehicle + 1 brake job or axleshaft failure.

Thats 200 installs. What are the odds that all 200 are properly torqued? What is the consequence of improper torque?

With the locking tab or set screw, improper torque is an inconvenience. Without it, it could get very ugly.

 

[jymmiejamz]

Last Tuesday I had to get the spindles off a Classic that took a Snap-On 52mm 3/4" socket and 4-foot breaker bar to get the jam nuts off

I bet that was an expensive socket.