This might be an obvious answer to most of you but I'm a relatively new DIYer and just bought my third Gen as a weekend project. I'm wondering if the spindle needs anything done to it (e.g. Greasing) or if it can be kept as is.

The car I picked up was a little worse for wear and abused so I've been replacing all the bushings, bearings, mounts, struts, etc. To do so I've had the whole front end taken apart obviously, and I'm finally starting to put everything back together. While going to put the steering knuckle on the new ball joint I noticed the spindle seems to have what looks like some kind of bearing at its base and had a lot of grease around it. I can't tell if it's residual or if it's supposed to be like that, and I haven't been able to find anyone mentioning replacing them from being shot, or greasing them or anything.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

The rotor and hub are a single unit. There are 2 bearing inside the hub which ride on the spindle pin. These really need to be disassembled from.time to time and repacked with grease. There is a seal on the backside which can fail and allow moisture in.

 

Right, I've got it all disassembled and I'm aware of needing to pack the inner and outer wheel bearings with grease, use a new seal (I've got new rotors, calipers, pads, brake lines, etc all as well). I just wanted to make sure I didn't need to do something to maintain spindle itself before putting everything back together.

Sounds like I don't though and I was just being paranoid. Thanks!

 

inspect the spindle when you disassemble, look for scoring scratching or burning. the normal wear will discolor the spindle, but it should be clear of anything breaking the surface of the metal. should be fine unless debris has gotten into the grease past the seal.