wheel bearings

[Guest dylans1952]

I have finished rebuilding the break and put the drum back on (the old bearings looked good so I did not replace them) and I noticed that the castle nut does not stop in a good place. if I go loose the tire has a bit of rock back and forth, but if I go tight the wheel feels binded, and in between I can't get the cotter pin through. so here is the question is that little bit of rock a problem or not.

[busycoupe]

You should pack the bearings with wheel bearing grease before putting the wheel back, then as you snug up the castle nut rotate the wheel to seat the bearings and work any excess grease out of the bearing. If the wheel still feels tight, back off the castle nut just enough to put in the cotter pin. Never run the car with tight bearings. They will burn out as they get hot and expand. It is better to leave it slightly loose.

[rustyzman]

On a conventional serviceable tapered wheel bearing setup it is normal to have a little rocking play in the wheel. Always err on the slightly loose side with tapered wheel bearings, never tight.

[greg g]

How bad is it? Do you need to rotate the nut more than a few degrees to line up the pin hole after snugging the bearing??? If you need to go a quarter trun or more I would pull it back down and make sure everything is going back together properly. Like they said a bit lose is better than too tight. Some of the guys have mentioned the need to drill another hole but that was after a disc brake conversion. Shouldn't be the case with your job.

[TodFitch]

How bad is it? Do you need to rotate the nut more than a few degrees to line up the pin hole after snugging the bearing??? If you need to go a quarter trun or more I would pull it back down and make sure everything is going back together properly. Like they said a bit lose is better than too tight. Some of the guys have mentioned the need to drill another hole but that was after a disc brake conversion. Shouldn't be the case with your job.

Shouldn't be more than 1/6th of a turn since it is a hexagonal head on that castle nut. I've got one that is just shy of fitting the pin when tight and once I back it off to the next possible point it seems loose. But its been that way for many thousands of miles so I guess it's okay.

[Robert Horne]

On my 48, the passenger side seems too tight or too loose. I tried switching bearings, and drums around, but end up with same situation. I believe the passenger side was drilled out just a little different.

[Guest dylans1952]

thanks, for the help I feel a lot better about it now. since this is the first time I have done this I thought it was best to ask rather then risk my wheel coming off on the road or something.

[bamfordsgarage]

You could also make the nut very slightly shorter... lay some aggressive metal-grade sandpaper on a sheet of glass or other hard flat surface and carefully sand the non-castle face of the nut.

Take care to ensure the face remains 90° deg off the bore. It helps to rotate the nut a bit, say six times, as you are sanding. It is safer to do this by hand, as a belt sander will quickly get you off perpendicular if you are not careful.

Taking off a little bit from the face will allow the nut to go on just a bit further and into the ideal position for the cotter pin. The strength of the nut is not materially affected.

I have done this successfully on a number of applications, including rear axle nuts which I believe must be fully tightened and never backed off for a cotter pin.