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I was checking out a leaking r front caliper piston today. Brakes were down by previous own at a shop but on piston is leaking. No big deal will replace. I noticed when putting wheel back on some play. I took it back off to inspect bearings. Nut was movable by hand (with pin in ) I removed pin and tighten one more notch for pin. Still a wee bit movement but don't want it too tight. I see a lot of back and forth on sites on nut torque lbs. Some do 10.Some 15 and back off to next notch. Then some say hand tighten while turning rotor. Then back off. No torque? Let's hear it boys. What the best way ???
The "Corvette " way has always been , hand tighten while turning the rotor method. Your looking for maybe a half thou to a thou clearance. So basically zero shake but certainly not to tight.
That's great from the manual, didn't even think of getting my manual out for that.
I would however wonder about that spec that says .008 Max. WOW, that would be a lot of shake in that rotor. But clearly, it's factory spec. I'm thinking it's not hard to get it closer to .001.
I've tightened thousands of wheel bearings over my career. From front wheel bearings on cars to full floating axles on class 8 trucks. I've always tightened with a bit of preload and never had a bearing failure. I even setup my rear wheel bearings on my Vette the same. Don't think tapered bearings can't be preloaded?, look at the amount of preloading those pinon bearings in your diff runs with. Forgot that .001"-.003" nonsense.
Last edited by Fly skids up!; 02-24-2024 at 08:15 PM.
Are you literally talking about using your hand only ? Or a wrench? I know its might sounds stupid. lol
Originally Posted by jax78v
Just to clarify I was able to move the nut by hand. I used a wrench to tighten it to next pin opening. Now has very little play .
Yes, by hand. Once the nut is torqued to 12# or to the point of the bearings stopping free rotation of the wheel, all clearance has been removed from the bearings and races. Back off the nut a turn or so and then finger tighten it all the way back in — then back off to the nearest nut slot for the cotter pin. Give the wheel a spin to ensure it's free spinning. The bearings will loosen just a small bit as the slack from backing off is distributed, the grease is pressed out, and they seat more fully into their races with driving.
Edit added: After remounting the wheel, check the play by wiggling the tire top/bottom and then drive it for a few miles, recheck the play. If it feels excessive, snug the nut to the very next slot and see how that feels as to free rotation and play. It's a little hard to judge free-rotation because the brake pads drag on the rotor. What you don't want is getting it too tight so you cook the grease and bearings.
67:72 described it perfectly. When all done, you should be able to remove the nut by hand. And make sure you have the tire on and not just trying to spin it via the rotor. I use an adjustable wrench and keep spinning the tire while turning the wrench. You can actually feel it tighten to a certain point. That is when you back off one or two flats until the pin will line up. Works on everything from Corvettes to Kenworths. Try not to overthink this.
This method must have been used by person who packed the bearing a few months ago. Just felt like too much play so I just tightened nut to next cotter pin gap and put pin in. I ordered a new caliper and will do this to bearings after .Thanks for the input!
02-24-2024, 05:02 PM
Front axle bearing nut torque
