Wheel Bearing Adjustment

[kuzbro]

I just repacked my 90 Winnebago front wheel bearings. The Toyota manual tells you to use a spring scale to adjust the bearings. I'm wondering if anyone uses this method/ and if so, what type of spring scale did you use?

[pascorader]

you don't need a scale. Thoroughly clean the bearings and hub of all old grease then repack them with Shaffers 238 grease. Tighten them down until they bottom out and back it off until the cotter pin fits. You don't want them too tight or lose. I just repacked the front and rears on my 88 sunrader and had to replace the rear bearings after 50,000 miles because poor lubrication from factory grease. Do you have the full floating axle? It has to be repacked as well.

[Gulfstream Greg]

Never heard of shaffers. Make sure its high temp grease for disc brake assemblies. There is an art to hand packing wheel bearings so you might want to google hand packing bearings.

I pulled the following off a web site for trailers.

1. Tighten the axle nut by hand until it is tight. Tighten another 1/4 turn with pliars or wrench.
2. Spin the drum several times to distribute the grease evenly in the bearings.
3. Back off the nut with the pliers or wrench, until loose and then retighten finger tight.
4. Insert a new cotter pin to lock the nut in place and bend it over the spindle.
5. Re-install the dust cap, wheel and tire, and hubcap.
6. Now is a very good time to adjust the brakes. See the brake adjusting page for more info.
7. Wash hands vigorously for 15 minutes!

Here is another from EHow

Step 1 Raise and support the vehicle with the jack stand. Remove the wheel. Remove the brake caliper and hang it up, so that there is no pressure on the brake hose. Remove the bearing cover with the short screwdriver and hammer.

Step 2 Remove the cotter pin with the wire cutters. Remove the large spindle nut with the large pliers or wrench. Rock the rotor and remove the front wheel bearing and washer.

Step 3 Install the large spindle nut a couple of threads and with a small amount of down pressure yank the rotor off of the spindle. The large spindle nut will grab and hold the rear inner wheel bearing and seal as the rotor is withdrawn. Pack both the inner and outer wheel bearings with high temp wheel bearing grease. Install the rear bearing in the rotor and tap the seal in with the hammer.

Step 4 Remove the large spindle nut and install the rotor on the spindle. Install the front wheel bearing and then the lock washer and the spindle nut. Tighten the spindle nut with the large pliers until the nut just becomes tight. Rotate the rotor one turn and loosen the spindle nut 90 degrees and then tighten it again where it is too tight to remove by hand and tighten another 30 degrees. The object is to adjust the wheel bearings where there is no side movement or rocking of the rotor. You do not want to tighten them so tight that they are pressed into the race so hard as they can not expand as they get hot.

Step 5 Install the castellated lock washer and the cotter pin. Install the bearing cover and the brake caliper and wheel.

Read more: How to Adjust Wheel Bearings | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/...l#ixzz0rV1SwfRF

[kuzbro]

you don't need a scale. Thoroughly clean the bearings and hub of all old grease then repack them with Shaffers 238 grease. Tighten them down until they bottom out and back it off until the cotter pin fits. You don't want them too tight or lose. I just repacked the front and rears on my 88 sunrader and had to replace the rear bearings after 50,000 miles because poor lubrication from factory grease. Do you have the full floating axle? It has to be repacked as well.

Thanks for your comments. First, yes, I have the floating axle and had them done last year. Since then I have purchased the special tool to do the work myself. I was mostly curious if anyone is actually using the tension guage. I ended up first tightening the nut to 25 Ft lbs (Toyota recommended), loosening the nut, then tightening about a half or less turn beyond finger tight. I used a scale that was designed for weighing fish, starting tension of my setting was about 1.2 lbs of force. That is within specs.