Wheel Bearing Torque

[kevin_tbird]

How tight should the bearing nut be on the front wheels? My shop manual just says to adjust the bearings. It does not give a torque setting. Any recommendations?

[Guest]

This is how I do it......
First.....make sure the bearings are "packed" with grease. After everything is installed in the hub, tighten the spindle nut slowly while turning the hub. I read somewhere 15-25 ft lbs but you really don't need to torque, just run the nut in snug then with the lock in position on the nut, back off to the first slot that lines up with the kotter pin hole in the spindle. Thats it! The goal is to have the assembly turn easy with no play at the bearings.

OK.....I'm ready for the flamin' arrows!

[Dakota Boy]

what he said above


like adjusting the cup-and-cone bearings on a bicycle hub...

set it not so tight that the wheel drags when you spin it, but not so loose that there is side-to-side movement.

[redstangbob]

Sounds about right. Tapered roller bearings are made to run with a pre-load, so after adjustment make sure there is no play in the hub/rotor without a lot of drag and you'll be fine. If you feel a wiggle, it's not snug enough. JMO Bob C

[simplyconnected]

Do you have new races??? <--this is important.

I have had wheels torqued in a similar fashion to the other posts, then found they were extremely loose after no time.

Here's how I do it: While spinning the wheel, torque that nut REAL tight. If a bearing race moves, it should be right now. Then back off the nut and re-tighten to 'snug', not tight.

I did this on my cousin's Amphicar, and much to our HORROR, the nut stripped. If the nut strips, there's something seriously wrong. After careful examination, I found, someone used an English nut on a METRIC spindle. We were both real happy to find the problem right then and there. After finding a correct nut, we again tightened it as hard as we could with no problem. Then I backed it off and brought it to 'snug'.

Always, always, use moly-lithium grease. You want the kind that 'strings' when you pull your greasy fingers apart after packing them well. - Dave