Have I ruined my wheel spindles?

[koda2000]

its Emery.
though they are different materials most guys use the terms interchangeably.
even better, try some extra fine Crocus cloth. combine that with WD40 and a shoe string to clean and polish round shafts.
if your hubs heat up enough to liquify grease you have problems.
the friction between the inner race and the shaft, plus the pressure against the rear step is supposed keep the inner race from spinning.

Thank you captain spellcheck. Maybe "liquefies" is too strong a term, but wheel bearing grease will flow once the hubs warm up (and they do warm up because heat is transferred from the brake rotors). That's why there's special wheel bearing grease for use with disk brakes.

BTW according to my spell checker you misspelled "liquefy".

 

[pjtoledo]

Webster's, page 837 in mine.
liquify, alternate spelling of liquefy

I often choose the path less traveled, seems appropriate for an Explorer forum.