Manual Hub Identification

AuroraGirl said:

i mean whats this about torquing and backing off

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If you just torque wheel bearings down they will expand, bind up, and cause your hubs to overheat when you get up to highway speeds. They should be torqued to 50 lb-ft to seat the bearings and then backed off and locked down. You should actually end up with a very small amount of end play when complete. I found a measurement somewhere of what the endplay should be, but I can't remember where i found it or how much it should be now.

Ultimately, they are very forgiving and will tolerate quite a bit of variation. Hence the torque to 50 lb-ft and back off until you can lock it in place, not to exceed 90 degrees of back off. This should get you within the end play spec without actually having to check the end play. When the vehicle gets up to speed everything warms up and expands and the end play disappears.

AuroraGirl said:

uh.. whats that for? I may have.. skipped this step i never new had to be done

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What Bex said. Too tight and it wears out bearings. Too loose and there's a lot of slop and it can chew up bearings/washers. You want the inner bearing race to spin with respect to the outer bearing race. You do not want the whole bearing assembly to spin which can happen when it's too loose. I have an example of them doing just that on my Land Cruiser but don't want to muddy the water on this forum with other vehicle photos.

What I was trying to explain is best shown with pictures. On the inner spindle nut there is a little dowel that sticks up. You would back that spindle nut off until one of the holes in the washer slots over the dowel. I assume the washer would be fixed in place with four slots in the spindle. Then the outer spindle nut would be torqued against the washer.

However, I don't even have matching hardware from the driver to passenger side. So, either there are two different designs or I am once again being bit by someone slapping this truck together from spare parts. In the last photo you will notice neither of these spindle nuts have a dowel. And the washer does not have the outer "ears" but one inner ear. That inner ear would line up with a spline in the axle. From my photos I don't see said spline though. So who knows.

Goldie Driver said:

I hope you have the face type as the sliding tooth needs the assistance of Doc Ock to reassemble...

Maybe the 3rd time is easier- not real enthused about the idea, though.

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Well, I can confirm they are the face tooth style.

I am offended by this because i had to deal with the less-fun kind, i think. honestly, i dont remember. i have one hub sitting in a coffee can minus one piece i should check lol.

Also, good thing I learned about this because I will be going into do u joints at some point, and i definitely did not use back off anything, but i may have used a torque wrench. 50 ft lbs sounds familiar, but that could have been on my f150.

or was it.


oh ****. do you guys think a 2wd front spindle on a ford probably needed this..the backing off of the retainer nut, that is..

It's probably fine if you torqued down the outer lock nut. It's easy to check though. Lift the wheel and try to shake it back and forth at the 3/9 and 6/12 o'clock positions. If if wobbles like the bearing is bad, go back in and tighten things down. If the wheel has a lot of drag turning it, or if the hub is very hot to the touch after driving it then it's to tight. I've found bearings on other vehicles to be rather forgiving.

AuroraGirl said:

Also, good thing I learned about this because I will be going into do u joints at some point, and i definitely did not use back off anything, but i may have used a torque wrench. 50 ft lbs sounds familiar, but that could have been on my f150.

or was it.


oh ****. do you guys think a 2wd front spindle on a ford probably needed this..the backing off of the retainer nut, that is..

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2wd's that I played with I usually used the rotate the rotor while tightening method, then stop when you feel resistance, and back off a hair.

@LateOnTheBrakes nailed it.

LateOnTheBrakes said:

I've found bearings on other vehicles to be rather forgiving.

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LateOnTheBrakes said:

It's probably fine if you torqued down the outer lock nut. It's easy to check though. Lift the wheel and try to shake it back and forth at the 3/9 and 6/12 o'clock positions. If if wobbles like the bearing is bad, go back in and tighten things down. If the wheel has a lot of drag turning it, or if the hub is very hot to the touch after driving it then it's to tight. I've found bearings on other vehicles to be rather forgiving.

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good thing i have to go in and repack and check bearings for unrelated sticking brake line. probably have some cooked grease.

AuroraGirl said:

good thing i have to go in and repack and check bearings for unrelated sticking brake line. probably have some cooked grease.

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Well, if you are trying to figure out the one that is hanging up or you suspect a bearing is dragging/overtightened don't use a bare hand to see if the hub is hot. That is a good way to lose some skin. Gloves or non-contact thermometers are you friend.

LateOnTheBrakes said:

Well, if you are trying to figure out the one that is hanging up or you suspect a bearing is dragging/overtightened don't use a bar hand to see if the hub is hot. That is a good way to lose some skin. Gloves or non-contact thermometers are you friend.

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I use the intimate areas for maximum sensation, joshua.








Nah, I use my hand to put close + it drags to the left so I check the driver wheel, which also gets covered in brake dust lol.

AuroraGirl said:

I use the intimate areas for maximum sensation, joshua.








Nah, I use my hand to put close + it drags to the left so I check the driver wheel, which also gets covered in brake dust lol.

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Lol, now that's a funny image.

AuroraGirl said:

I use the intimate areas for maximum sensation, joshua.

Nah, I use my hand to put close + it drags to the left so I check the driver wheel, which also gets covered in brake dust lol.

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@AuroraGirl Different strokes for different folks I guess. I guess it shouldn't be any stranger than folks purposely pouring hot candle wax on themselves/each other. I'll mark you down for at least the M in BDSM.

AuroraGirl said:

oh ****. do you guys think a 2wd front spindle on a ford probably needed this..the backing off of the retainer nut, that is..

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This is how well (poorly) my wheel spun immediately after torquing to 50 lb-ft.