How do you tighten the wheel bearings?

[taytorsalad07]

I just got my car inspected and my mechanic said that i needed to tighten my bearings. He said that he thought that the 91' ranger had a quick adjust for the bearings. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[unclemeat]

You can do a search and find out everything you want to know. I believe that wheel bearing maintenance is even referenced on the home page.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

I'm surprised your mechanic said something to you about it. However, to tighten them is kind of tricky. If you jack up the front and feel from 12-6 o'clock and rock it up and down; you'll probably feel some play. The play could either be ball joints or wheel bearings. More than likely if it's a little place it's wheel bearing. Anyway, if it's just a little play then to be honest, I'd leave it. Are you 2wd or 4wd? If your 2wd it's easy.

-Drew

 

[RockRanger]

If there is ANY play I would try to tighten them up. The ttb are known for the wheel beaings coming loose. Pull tire, hub, c clip, washer and caliper. Take off the outer nut then pull the washer off. the inner I tighten it to where the roter is real hard to turn then back it off a bit to where there is a some drag on the roter. Then put the washer back on making sure the "tit" on the inner nut goes into one of the holes on the washer. Put the outer nut on and then give it a crank. I usually go about as far as my 2 ft breaker bar will let me. Then put the caliper, washer and clip on the end of the axle and put the hub and tire back on. Thats how I have always done them.

 

[410Fortune]

hahahaha Oh man there are as many ways to do the wheel bearings as thier are members on this forum.

I do similar to Rockranger, after doing them every 6 months or so for years you get to the point where you can set the pre-load on the bearings by hand. For those guys who run big tires we tend to tighten them up a bit more then the book calls for.

But if you are running stockish sized tires then you should set the pre-load on your front wheel bearings by the book.

I do mine like this:
Tighten inner spindle nut to 30 ft lbs, SPIN the rotor, both directions, a few times.
Back inner spindle nut off about 1/5 of a turn, lightly spin the rotor.
Tighten the inner spindle nut to "snug" hahahahaha not sure what the torque rating for snug is, but I would guess somewhere around 15-20 ft lbs.
SPIN the rotor some more.
install the lock ring washer, if the PIN does not LINE up, TIGHTEN to get it to the next hole. Then install the lock washer and outer spindle nut. Like RockRanger I jamb this sucker down as much as my 18" Snap on 1/2" driver will let me, which is pretty damn tight. being careful not to spin the inner and lock ring washer, you can actually cause the lock ring washer to "jump track" on the spindle and ***** up your threads = no beuno.

If you plan to do simple maintenece like this on your truck the Haynes or Chiltons manula or CD is a VERY wise investment.