Wheel bearing or ?

[MGD72Monte]

Checked the play in the front wheels today. I feel some play when I push/pull by the top and bottom of the tire. Looks to be the same on both front wheels. Entire suspension only has about 3000miles on it (replaced upper/lower ball joints, tie rods, spindle, bearings (Timken). Seems a little early for both lower ball joints to go. I was thinking about checking the outer wheel bearings but again, it is way early, maybe just tighten them?

 

Ideas?

[footballubet]

Tighten the wheel bearings. Unless you made them too tight when you replaced them, everything is just seated.

[Sam (Bones)]

[72MC]

Agreed, but only tighten the nut by hand.

 

On the original install, the proper procedure is to tighten the spindle nut to 12 lb ft, spin rotor forward and backward multiple times. Loosen the spindle nut only enough in order to retigthen it by hand. Insert cotter pin and done. I always tighten to the next slot if the castle nut is in between. - Dave

[LS5]

Hey MG, failing the advice given had you replaced the Upper Control Arm Bushings ?? Those can cause a vibration as well when shot when pulling in and out on the wheel

Darren.

[MGD72Monte]

Thanks guys, I will look to tighten the bearings gently by hand at the earliest opportunity.

 

Darren: Yes although I did not mention, I changed both upper and lower control arm bushings. It would have been faster if I just listed what I did not change .

[Chevyss]

with Scooter

[MGD72Monte]

I looked to tighten these today but the only way I am able to tighten the nut to the next cotter pin slot is by turning the spindle nut by hand using a socket (but no wrench or ratchet). That does get rid of the play but according to the book the nut should be loosened then tightened only by hand "not a wrench of any kind until it is snug, if it does not line up with a slot, back it off to the nearest slot" which is where the set up is now. To tighten beyond I may not be using a wrench but I am using a socket. The book also says that when you push/pull by the top and bottom of the tire, a play of no more than 0.005" is acceptable. That is hard to measure though. With the distances between the cotter pin slots being what they are I don't see how you can get this right without being extremely lucky.

 

Thoughts?

[MCfan]

MG, you should be able to tighten the spindle nut to 12 ft-lbs maximum with a socket and accurate torque wrench and then back the nut off to the nearest cotter pin hole, but only if necessary. I'm pretty sure that will be tighter than you could tighten it by hand.

 

You should still check for excessive tightness by spinning the wheel and watching for drag beyond normal rotational friction. Assuming the proper type and amount of wheel bearing grease is available, a snug fitting bearing will last longer than a loose one.

 

If I understand your situation correctly, I would use the torque wrench method and bet that you will gain at least one full notch on the castle nut.

[72MC]

MG, you should be able to tighten the spindle nut to 12 ft-lbs maximum with a socket and accurate torque wrench and then back the nut off to the nearest cotter pin hole, but only if necessary.

 

That is incorrect. That will potentially create to much pressure on the bearing. The nut is to be tighten to 12 lb fts and then the rotor is to be spun back and forth multiple times to seat the bearing. The nut is to be loosened until the nut spins freely in hand and then the nut is to be tightened by hand until the cotter pin can be installed. Yes, the nut is to be that loose!!! "I personally" will rotate the nut by hand forward to the next hole if the cotter pin does not line up on the first attempt by hand, even if I need a socket "in hand" to achieve this. That part is my own choice. But by the instruction itself, this should explain the problem with tightening the spindle nut to much. - Dave

 

ps - go through the whole tightening, spinning, and retightening procedure again. You may have another issue other than the wheel bearing. There should be a slight bit of play with the wheel bearing but remember, your mental gauge is magnified by holding and pushing the rim/edge of the tires.

[wallaby]

I think the idea is to get close to zero lash when the bearing is in use. When adjusting, you can err on the loose side because the bearing will expand a bit as it warms up. As I understand it, having a preload on a tapered roller bearing doesn't lead to long life.

 

When I was taught, I was told to tighten the assembly to a slight preload and rotate the wheel a couple times...this squeezes the grease out of the way and lets you better "feel" where zero is. As you are rotating the wheel you tighten/loosen the nut gently back& forth with a wrench to determine where zero is and set the cotter pin just on the side of looseness.

 

I can't remember for sure, but often times there is a second hole for the cotter pin to pass through. One running vertical, and the other running horizontal. This gives you more control of the nut adjustment.

[MGD72Monte]

Thanks guys, lots of info in there. I did use the 12ft.lbs torque down, spin, then loosen "until it is just loose" then as per my last, tighten by hand and I end up where I am at. What I did not check in all this is the resultant torque when I tighten forward using a socket in my hand to reach the next cotter pin hole. I can check that maybe next weekend but otherwise looks like the amount of play is "normal". Interesting that tapered pinion bearings need preload while spindle bearings apparently do not.

 

Thanks again