The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Tacking a disk brake kit spacer in place?

I am installing a Speedway disk brake kit on my 49 3100 and am considering tack welding the included bearing spacers in place to the steering nuckle. For those who haven't delt with the kit, there is a spacer which slides over the spindle to space out the inner bearing and then necks down to allow the use of a larger I.D. inner bearing. I am concerned about the spacer spinning instead of the bearing as it isn't very snug on the spindle. Spacers from kits I have used on other vehicles in the past have had to be heated to red hot before fitting onto the spindle, and then shrink to a tight fit when they cool. Am I just being overly paranoid or am I missing something? I know this is a fairly common kit so hopefully someone can provide some insight.

I would be worried about warping the ring spacer if I welded it. It seems that these spacers never fit tightly on these truck spindles... mine were loose as well.

I used the following method (the kit said to use regular loctite if I wanted to, but I thought that the "sleeve retainer" product would be better as it is typically used to hold rear axle bearing races in place and fill gaps around the bearing race.

I applied an anaerobic prep spray, then sleeve retainer (Permatex or Loctite) to lock the adapter in place. Be careful, as after the anaerobic spray is applied, the retainer fluid hardens very quickly. So I applied the fluid to the axle only, right where the spacer was going to seat, and I pushed the spacer on and spun it around as I pushed it against the rear of the axle stub to get the fluid running all the way around the ID of the spacer. It cured almost immediately. It filled the gap and held it in place really well. So far, no problems, but I haven't driven it much more than around the block.

I'm interested to hear how others dealt with this issue.

That's some good advice, I hadn't considered that tack welds could distort such a critical piece. I like your method better. Forgive my being a cheap skate, but do you think the anerobic prep spray is necessary? It costs about twice as much as the sleeve retainer and I doubt I'll ever use it again.

Yeah, I agree that the spray is stupid expensive....I doubted whether I needed it as well.

I have no idea whether it is necessary. I assume that the product cures to the same hardness without it. I used it to ensure that the surfaces were absolutely clean of everything and that the bond would be a really good one. Perhaps someone else on here could elaborate more on whether or not the spray is a necessity when using Loctite like products. Perhaps the Loctite website would have more info on that? I'll probably have that nearly full can of unused spray until I die...!

Go to Walmart and buy a small can of lacquer thinner or acetone from the paint department- - - - -it works just as well as a degreaser as the expensive stuff and either one will evaporate almost instantly. Wear rubber gloves- - - -either one will dehydrate your skin.
Jerry

Loctite 620 is just for this kind of appilication