Wheel Bearings again, any suggestions?

[glfredrick]

The trick is to get the inner nut tightened to just the right level to pre-load the bearings, then tighten the outer nut until you lift the front end of the truck off the ground from the force you place on the tool.

That typically works to keep them tight.

I use two people to tighen them. One to hold the socket in place so I don't slip off and round it off, the other to work the end of the 4 foot pipe I have slipped over the breaker bar.

FWIW, I never had any problems with mine coming loose, even after driving the truck across the nation, and wheeling the snot out of it repeatedly. Also didn't have many failures running 33s. I did use Amsoil synthetic grease...

 

[SwaintaN]

ok does anyone have a pic of the inner nut for autohub

 

[rangernut911980]

i am the guy doing the work on swaintans explorer there is not an inner nut on his setup he has auto lock hubs and the only nut i found upon initial disassembly was the outer that you have to pull the lock pin to remove

 

[Maniak]

There is only 1 nut on the auto hub..

Working from inside to out...
It goes Nut (with key), thrust washers, cam, spacer, then snap ring.

~Mark

 

[SwaintaN]

ok thought i was going nuts there for a min, so just the ONE nut then? do what the other guy said, tighten it to the point the rotor wont turn, back off a lil and tighten again?

 

[SwaintaN]

oh yeah to just clarify, that is the nut the 2 3/8 socket is for!?

 

[glfredrick]

ok thought i was going nuts there for a min, so just the ONE nut then? do what the other guy said, tighten it to the point the rotor wont turn, back off a lil and tighten again?

Sorry, that is for manual hubs, which use two nuts.

Just make the switch. The manual hubs are much better, and they work when you need them.

 

[SwaintaN]

that will havta come when i got the money...

 

[mikeinri]

OK, for the sake of fixing your autohubs right now, ignore everything but this:

1. Take the 2 3/8 socket, make the nut really, really, really tight.

2. Back it off, then snug it to the point that it's tight, but the rotor still moves, and stick the key in.

3. Put the rest back together and you're done...

(If you're bored, look up the torque specs and use a torque wrench for step 2.)

Mike

 

[SwaintaN]

lol for now the torque specs will be a 4ft pipe :-D hey what does soaking the hubs in atf do?

 

[mikeinri]

4 ft pipe is perfect. You just need to seat them well.

The ATF is used to clean and lubricate the autohubs. If you have grease in them, they tend to bind (won't lock and / or unlock correctly, or at all). Grease seems to be the fastest way (outside of rock crawling) to destroy autohubs.

Mike

 

[SwaintaN]

so should i spray em down with brake cleaner and let them sit with ATF in them while we do the rear brakes and redo the wheel bearings up front? do i need to put anything else into them when that is all done

 

[Maniak]

so should i spray em down with brake cleaner and let them sit with ATF in them while we do the rear brakes and redo the wheel bearings up front? do i need to put anything else into them when that is all done

Nope.. let em soak, dump the excess, install them..

~Mark

 

[SwaintaN]

cool beans, ill havta pick some up this weekend then, thanks guys.

 

[SwaintaN]

what about gear oil as a lube instead of ATF

 

[SwaintaN]

hey i noticed today that my passenger tires points in a lil at the top, could the be causing it and how do i fix that?

 

[JTX]

Alignment will fix that.. If the alignment is bad it could be putting more pressure on one side of the bearing and causing them to fail. Easiest fix is to SAS.

 

[Spook]

The socket is 2-3/8 and the torque sequence is;
1-tighten the nut to 35 foot pounds
2-back off 1/4 turn
3-tighten to 16 INCH pounds
4-align the centre of the spindle keyway with the nearest slot in the wheel bearing adjusting nut, if necessary tighten the nut so the next slot aligns with the keyway slot.

You will need an adaptor or two to use the socket with most inch pound torque wrenches as the drive on the nut is significantly larger than the drive on the wrench.
Make sure there is no bearing grease inside the hub as it will cause problems with disengaging 4 wheel drive, it gums up the works.

 

[SwaintaN]

i had an alignment, i think they are the ones who FD it up even more. redoing them bearings tomorrow with the socket, had to order it, no one had it in stock