Amber Gramps

My high school autoshop teacher pounded this into us. I still don't buy that there needs to be play, but I do go until the washer can only move by a bit of pressure with a screwdriver. I'll spin a hub around 40 revolutions or more before I put in the cotter key just to be satisfied that I've got it right.

I still remember being on the phone with Steve Weiner when I discovered my 911 hubs were loose. I lost the rotor and pads along with the bearings and races. That's what I get for doing my own PPI.

rusnak

When I look at used trailers or cars, I still grab the front tires and shake back and forth. It's hilarious actually, because the newer BMWs and Porsches really don't have much play, if at all, that you can detect. Consider our 911s the last of the olden day automobiles.

Amber Gramps

I remember when I was about 16 pulling a trailer home from Glamis with my three wheeler in it. Wheel bearing chunked on freeway in the middle of the night. We pulled the plate off of it and put the ATC 110 on the tailgate of the truck and drove home. Stupid trailer is likely still sitting there.

rusnak

That story puts a smile on my face. Just the thought of you on a 110 ATC would have been a spectacle. Did you push it up and down the sand dunes?

There's a guy who is famous within the retail fuel industry, from Palm Desert, who I hope to go meet someday. I might continue south in search of your trailer.

Amber Gramps

Long story is about to follow..... I was 18ish and the kid down the street rented me his brand new ATC 350 for $100 bucks. Took it to Glamis for Easter Weekend. Lined up at Competition Hill with what must have been another 100+ bikes. They all just sat there waiting. I get impatient that nobody was going up the hill so I dropped the clutch and launched this monster of a bike up the dune. First, second, third gear.....then got hit with the sand roosters of all the other bikes as they passed this idiot that was getting stuck on stock tires. I had dug this bike a hole I could not get out of until the dust cleared. I went back to camp a total looser.

rusnak

^ Haha! At least you guys had a camp.

Around here, we used to go to Pismo/ Grover Beach. My Gramps used to call it "**** 'Mo". Anyway, I bought what was called the Baja 1000 Kit for the Honda ATC 250. Sander's Honda in Visalia sold it, and Eddie Sanders raced it back in '82. It punched the cylinder out to 350cc, raised the compression, and had honed out ports till they were paper thin. That thing shakes the ground when it's idling, and you can't steer until you're in 3rd gear.

I raced my buddy up Competition Hill in Pismo. I clear the crest of the hill with throttle pegged, and see a helmet. Helmet goes down, down, down as I get air. My buddies' parents were there with a VCR camera filming us, literally. We got home and played that tape over and over. I cleared the guy, sitting on a 200 SX. He watched me fly over him and almost wipe out trying to land. I saved the landing and had to stop to catch my breath.

Amber Gramps

This is my daughter that is now in Mexico City learning Spanish. My brother and I built an ATC 70 into a monster 88cc bike with EVERYTHING available at the time. Carb, pipe, head, cam, cylinder, piston, etc. New sprockets, rims, tires, chain, etc......MONSTER that is even plenty strong enough for me to ride. The only thing I'd change now is the next set of tires will be flat tracks.


Same kid that is hanging off my Hobie Cat:

09mageec

So, it should have slight play huh? I wasn't aware of this. I did read about not overnighting the clamping nut, but how much play are we talking? Meaning, how much should force with a flathead should I be applying to the washer, and how much play am I looking for in the washer?

Amber Gramps

Zero movement or rattling of the wheel....slight movement of the washer when pried on with a screwdriver. You don't want to crank it too tight because too tight creates friction. There isn't an easier hub to work with. Just check your work after everything is broken in and driven a while.

Dave Inc.

Spec says you should be able to push the washer side to side with a screwdriver without using leverage. I always use a little bit of leverage myself, though, because if I don't it feels like there's simply too much play in the wheel when I'm done.

Also worth noting that the inside bushings of Bilstein struts can wear out over time and mimic the feeling of too much play in a wheel bearing. So keep that in mind if you have Bilsteins.

09mageec

Always! Thanks, Gramps..

Perfect, thanks for the info!


Edit: Also, anyone have a torque spec on that Clamping Nut for the Spindle???


-Cam

theiceman

your likely not going to get a torque wrench in there anyway if its what im thinking, isn't it just a hex bolt ? Just reef it up with an allen key and move on

Dave Inc.

That little M6 hex key bolt? Just torque it up to good'n'tight. It's not going anywhere.

09mageec

Perfect.

rusnak

I usually shoot for a faint clunk when you grab the tire and push and pull it left to right. Too much tightening on the spindle nut, and the bearing rollers will burn. I leave a bit of margin for safety.