Thread: Wheel Bearings and Play in the Wheel

i live close and have a hub nut spanner and was home, not that you would have know this at the time, if your ever in the need of a wheel bearing on a weekend i always carry a spare set in the rig

there should be no movement in the wheel after adjusting well apart from the wheel still needing to turn.

i reckon to many guys over tighten the hub nuts, i do them up till the slack is taken up while spinning the wheel than give it just a little nip. i repacked mine just before the simpson trip last year and have not checked them since well apart from jacking a wheel up to see if there is any free play, although this thread has just reminded me to pull them apart and have a look as its probably nudge 15K or more since i last had them apart.

from the edge of the rim only there should be .1mm of rim rock as measured by a DTI from the top of the swivel pin and the edge of a rim..

.3mm is the max limit before you need to redo the bearing tension..

if you dont have a DTI or torque wrench with the wheel spining, crank them up tight till they bind, back them off then carefully retension till it just starts to grab, back it off then tighten it up again to just short of where it was when it started to grab. jobs done, remember to keep the wheel turning while you do it.

It sounds complicated but only takes about 30 seconds to do once youve got it assembled, remeber to check the feel of the wheel after you do up the locknut,.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

from the edge of the rim only there should be .1mm of rim rock as measured by a DTI from the top of the swivel pin and the edge of a rim..

.3mm is the max limit before you need to redo the bearing tension..

if you dont have a DTI or torque wrench with the wheel spining, crank them up tight till they bind, back them off then carefully retension till it just starts to grab, back it off then tighten it up again to just short of where it was when it started to grab. jobs done, remember to keep the wheel turning while you do it.

It sounds complicated but only takes about 30 seconds to do once youve got it assembled, remeber to check the feel of the wheel after you do up the locknut,.

what he said.....i couldnt have put it better.......


by the book.....it says no movent......
by experience....bearings that are a tad loose seem to last a lot longer than those that have no movement......
i dont mean loose.....just the ever so slightest freeplay.....

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

from the edge of the rim only there should be .1mm of rim rock as measured by a DTI from the top of the swivel pin and the edge of a rim..

.3mm is the max limit before you need to redo the bearing tension..

if you dont have a DTI or torque wrench with the wheel spining, crank them up tight till they bind, back them off then carefully retension till it just starts to grab, back it off then tighten it up again to just short of where it was when it started to grab. jobs done, remember to keep the wheel turning while you do it.

It sounds complicated but only takes about 30 seconds to do once youve got it assembled, remeber to check the feel of the wheel after you do up the locknut,.

Firstly what is a DTI?

And secondly how do I get to the hub and bearings with the wheel on?

That little hole in the alloys where the center cap goes sure wont fit the hub nut spanner through

And secondly how do I get to the hub and bearings with the wheel on?

That little hole in the alloys where the center cap goes sure wont fit the hub nut spanner through

Put mens wheels on it

Bruce.

Originally Posted by seqfisho

Firstly what is a DTI?

And secondly how do I get to the hub and bearings with the wheel on?

That little hole in the alloys where the center cap goes sure wont fit the hub nut spanner through

Umm you dont.....rims comes off....lever small rubber cap off....you will see a circlip.

Brake callipar needs to come off to get to inner bearing.

Im doing the same thing. Found heaps of play in theright front, niped up a bit now the bearings are even noiser....so bugger it Im putting new bearings in so at least I know its done !

Originally Posted by seqfisho

Firstly what is a DTI?

And secondly how do I get to the hub and bearings with the wheel on?

That little hole in the alloys where the center cap goes sure wont fit the hub nut spanner through

when are you planning to do it, if it works in i might be able to pop over on the weekend show you around the hub assembley, i have a bit of painting to do and the kids off to a b'day party, otherwaise pop around one arvo and i can point out the bits and pieces and the order to remove them

if your getting your bits and pieces from MR they have in the past let me take all the consumables i.e. bearings, seals, gaskets, locking washers etc and return the bits that i didn't use, i don't know too many other supplier that offer that service.

Originally Posted by weeds

when are you planning to do it, if it works in i might be able to pop over on the weekend show you around the hub assembley, i have a bit of painting to do and the kids off to a b'day party, otherwaise pop around one arvo and i can point out the bits and pieces and the order to remove them

if your getting your bits and pieces from MR they have in the past let me take all the consumables i.e. bearings, seals, gaskets, locking washers etc and return the bits that i didn't use, i don't know too many other supplier that offer that service.

Thanks Kelvin for the offer, I have already had the PS apart on Sunday but didn't have the proper tools at the time to do the job correctly (using multi grips etc), but I dropped into MR's yesterday and picked up a hub nut spanner and new lock washers.

What I wanted to know was if there should be any play in the wheel (top to bottom rock) when it was correctly tensioned if I had to do the job (like on Sunday) without the correct tools.

The method BLKNIGHT described with spinning the wheel while tensioning is the one I have always used on trailer bearings but it is impossible to do with the LR alloys as they cover too much of the hub.