Front wheel bearing adjustment
07-15-2006, 02:23 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Front wheel bearing adjustment
Hi All,
I replaced and packed my front wheel bearing about 700 miles ago...
I have the car up and noticed a slight amount of play in the drivers side.... I remove the rotor and dust cap and tightened...
The WSM suggest tightening and then slakening until the thrust washer can be moved... the washer seems to be keyed if I remember correctly....
Is there any other way to properly adjust the front bearings???
LO
I replaced and packed my front wheel bearing about 700 miles ago...
I have the car up and noticed a slight amount of play in the drivers side.... I remove the rotor and dust cap and tightened...
The WSM suggest tightening and then slakening until the thrust washer can be moved... the washer seems to be keyed if I remember correctly....
Is there any other way to properly adjust the front bearings???
LO
07-15-2006, 10:15 PM
#5
Rennlist Member
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Another easy and accurate way to adjust front wheel bearings...
As you turn the hub, tighten the bearings snugly with a wrench or big pliers.
Stop turning the hub, and loosen the nut.
Tighten it as tight as you can with only your fingers.
This should give very close to the desired result, which is zero pre-load and zero end-float.
Check for any slop - if the hub has any looseness, try again...
As you turn the hub, tighten the bearings snugly with a wrench or big pliers.
Stop turning the hub, and loosen the nut.
Tighten it as tight as you can with only your fingers.
This should give very close to the desired result, which is zero pre-load and zero end-float.
Check for any slop - if the hub has any looseness, try again...
07-16-2006, 05:08 PM
#6
Chronic Tool Dropper
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What Wally said, plus keep in mind that it might be better to be a little bit loose as opposed to a little tight. Many start off a little tight, and the bearing gets damaged a bit. It gets loose, so then it gets tightened a bit. By the third or fourth time, you are tempted to tighten it a little extra, but by then the bearings need to be replaced anyway.
My now-departed 4WD Explorer had a recommendation of 25 ft/lbs on newly packed bearings, rotate the wheel a few times, back off completely then tighten to 12-15 INCH/lbs. That's about the same method Wally describes, using your calibrated fingers instead of the torque wrench. In the end, you still need to make sure that there's room between the rollers and the races for a film of grease. If you can just barely wiggle the washer in there with a small screwdriver, you are pretty darn close.
Anybody using a more exotic grease than Redline for the wheel bearings? The turbine guys are recommending a synthetic Mobil AGL-4 class grease for some of the bigger pump bearings. I still havemore than half a tube of Redline in the bearing packer, so it will be a lifetime or more before I try a new grease in there I guess.
My now-departed 4WD Explorer had a recommendation of 25 ft/lbs on newly packed bearings, rotate the wheel a few times, back off completely then tighten to 12-15 INCH/lbs. That's about the same method Wally describes, using your calibrated fingers instead of the torque wrench. In the end, you still need to make sure that there's room between the rollers and the races for a film of grease. If you can just barely wiggle the washer in there with a small screwdriver, you are pretty darn close.
Anybody using a more exotic grease than Redline for the wheel bearings? The turbine guys are recommending a synthetic Mobil AGL-4 class grease for some of the bigger pump bearings. I still havemore than half a tube of Redline in the bearing packer, so it will be a lifetime or more before I try a new grease in there I guess.
