Dana 80 - Trashed Spindle

[JFitzgerald]

The passenger side wheel on my rear axle siezed while I was going down the road at about 65 mph. Smoke rolled (wrong kind), and I headed for the grass in the ditch along the road to have a little mercy on my tire. Once stopped, I backed up and it freed up. I limped the few miles back home slowly. I could not get the bearing nut loose, so yesterday I ordered a socket wrench, bearings, seal, nut and wedge from my NAPA store. Tonight I rounded out the socket trying to get the nut off. Then resorted to the chisel to cut the nut at the keyway. That's when I realized the plastic from the locknut had melted into the threads which holds the nut quite well. Note: PB Blaster does not seem to help in this situation . After getting the nut off, the hub and drum would not come off the spindle. I cut a slot into the inner race of the bearing with a die grinder to get the rollers out, which let me get the hub and drum off. Then of course, I had to deal with the inner part of the bearing stuck on the spindle. This is getting way too long (sorry), so basically, the bearing had welded itself to the spindle, and I don't think the spindle is good enough to re-use. The threads are messed up some too.

So what are my options? At first look, it does not appear that the spindle is replaceable, so do I have to replace the whole axle? Help! I'll have to hitch a ride to work for the third day tomorrow.... Thanks in advance.