Adjusting Front Tapered Roller Bearings (E-series)

[the_twig_187]

just wondering what the consencus is on adjusting front wheel bearings on E-series vehicles. I know the work shop manual says like 18-24 inch pounds (or somethign like that) but when ever your checking the front end for ball joints you seem to have a lot of play with the wheel bearings.

 

I have always put the wheel on and torqued (with a torque stick) then I​ adjust the 27mm nut to where I can feel minimal up&down play (which is usually a little bit more snug than finger tight) should I be doing it this way?

 

how do you adjust front roller bearings?

 

thanks

Chris

[Buddy_M]

Tighten the nut down tight while spinning the wheel. Stop the wheel and back off 1/4 turn, and tighten just by finger tight, if its a castle nut with cotter pin I'll snug it up just a bit more if need be to line up for the pin.

 

I've read it both ways as to increased bearing life with preload and having endplay. Some manufacturers want endplay, others preload. My method usually averages 0 endplay by dial indicator to slight preload, and never had any bearing failure in 13 years of setting that way since high school.

[Keith Browning]

I do it by feel. I tighten the nut up while rotating the rotor and then loose to bring back play. Then I I slowly bring it to 0 play and a little resistance on the nut. Not specific but the end result is a minimal amount of preload. No failures for me either.

[Brad Clayton]

I do it the way Chris does with the wheel on. It gives me a nice fulcrum to check for end play and an easy way to spin the assembly. I put a lot of grease in them and it can sometimes create a lot of drag giving the appearance that the bearings are too tight. I always preload taper bearings and wheel bearings are no different, especially when it comes to a full floating rear axle hub assembly. 

[Bruce Amacker]

Ditto on above, I keep a slight load on them too. I have a bearing life chart somewhere showing tapered roller bearings have a longer life with a slight load on them, but not too much!  I do it by feel, slightly tighter than finger tight (after spinning, tightening, and loosening).

 

[the_twig_187]

ok good!

 

this has confirmed my approach, i usually end up tightening the nut slightly more snug then finger tight and always with the wheel spinning and a good snug tightness at first to seat the bearings and then back it off for the final adjustment. you wouldnt be able to back off the nut with just your fingers but if you grab an adjustible plyers or a 27mm socket you just barly have to touch the nut and its off. this results in very minimal play when rocking the

wheel at the top and bottom as if you were checking for ball joint deflection. I just wanted to confirm with others of greater experience levels than my own that this is an acceptable way of adjusting the bearings.

 

thanks for the advise guys

chris

[cbriggs]

I do it by feel as you guys, no perceptible end play, but no more preload than you can really achieve with your fingers (clean and dry) I have a pair of small (6") channel lock pliars that I use for wheel bearing nuts, as my fingers are usually too greasy to hold the nut. In trade school the spec we were taught was .0005" end play (5 tenthousanths of an inch).

[amailloux]

I was working in an ag shop in high school and the old guy who was a retired auto instructor grabbed a 10 inch crescent wrench. Tightened with the wrench to seat the bearings, backed off 1/4 turn, and held the wrench just past 12 o'clock and let it fall. Every since then my spec has been "the drop of a 10 inch crescent" over 20 years doing it this way.

[Bruce Amacker]

In addition, there's an old VW service manual that has you use a screwdriver to see if you can move the tabbed washer under the nut.  If it's too tight you wouldn't be able to move the washer, not a bad idea if you think about it.  In addition, think of how much preload there are on wet bearings in a diff- hundreds of pounds......

 

[Alex Bruene]

I do it by feel.  Always have.  Don't ask me to explain my method, but if you need more than the strength of your fingers to remove the nut, it's too tight.

[8WA Sman]

I used to always do it by feel until I had a redo every 12k to 15K on a F-Series 6.0L with DRW(Once for free). The problem was actually 2 fold the spindle seal surface had wear and with DRW the extra leverage on the rotor was making the problem worse. I now set wheel bearings based on pre-load. 

 

 As a side note I have replaced more then one E-Series spindle for seal surface wear, anything over 200k is likely to need a spindle. I have only noticed seal surface wear on vehicles newer then 2000 model year.