wheel bearing adjustment

[Uncle Fester]

I want to do some preventitive maint. on my truck and need to know...do I need a special wrench/socket to adjust the wheel bearings on a corp. 10 bolt front axle? I have done it on a dana 44 on a F**d Br**co, but never on a GM 10 bolt.Is there anything I should be aware of before starting this job? I am not feeling any problems in the front end, but why wait untill there is a problem.....right?

 

[tch777]

yep you need the same socket as the ford dana 44 front end, at least that is what I used on my sub

 

[FightinTXag]

Before you begin you should have the correct hub socket, wheel bearing grease (if you're going to tear into this and not replace the bearings you should at least repack), and a torque wrench that reads reliably at as low as 35 ft-lbs and as high as 205 ft-lbs. (For a fully refundable deposit you can borrow a click-type one from Autozone)

After disassembly and repacking...

Per the factory service manual, tighten the adjusting nut to 50 ft-lbs while spinning the rotor. Back it off. Tighten again to 35 ft-lbs. Back off somewhere between 1/4 and 3/8 turn. Install the lockwasher and then torque the locknut to spec. Make sure the rotor spins freely and there is some play (but not too much) after the locknut is torqued.

Whatever you do, don't over-tighten the bearings. After the (outer) locknut is torqued (160-205 ft-lbs per my '85 factory service manual) you should have .001-.010" of free play in the rotor assembly.

To check this, after tightening the locknut, I like to mount the wheel up with 2 opposite lugnuts and push/pull the tire at 12 o'clock. Don't bother with the caliper at this point- that'll just add another variable to the mix. You should feel/hear the rotor and wheel moving in and out, but it needs to be moving 1/16th inch (.0625") or less - ish. Then I give the wheel/tire a mild spin. It should spin easily with no evidence of dragging or slowing drastically. Usually I see 2 turns or so with the wheel on and not the caliper. But that depends on the spinning effort.

Good luck