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**mr48chev** · 10-05-2011, 04:02 PM

I'm not saying that the manual is wrong but it does go against what I was taught and have taught. The wheel bearings in my 48 have over 100,000 miles on them and have never given me a problem after adjusting them just like Orrie and Wrenchbender said the learned to do it.

I usually tighten the nut up to put a preload on the bearings back it off and then tighten it again just so that I get to the closest slot to being just tight.

I've found that if you just tighten the nut until it tops and put the key in, quite often the bearing will loosen up in a few miles. I've followed behind the guy who did that at one work place correcting what he had done before he was asked to leave the place. It isn't fun doing someone else's comebacks for the first month you work in a new shop.

But a bigger contributor to bearing failure is having someone do a haphazard job of packing the bearings. I've seen too many that didn't get packed right. Dabbing a bit of grease on the outside of the balls or cone and then filling the hub with grease expecting it to "flow" into the bearing doesn't contribute to long bearing life.

10-05-2011, 04:02 PM	#12
mr48chev Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toppenish, WA Posts: 15,824	Re: Wheel bearing adjustment question I'm not saying that the manual is wrong but it does go against what I was taught and have taught. The wheel bearings in my 48 have over 100,000 miles on them and have never given me a problem after adjusting them just like Orrie and Wrenchbender said the learned to do it. I usually tighten the nut up to put a preload on the bearings back it off and then tighten it again just so that I get to the closest slot to being just tight. I've found that if you just tighten the nut until it tops and put the key in, quite often the bearing will loosen up in a few miles. I've followed behind the guy who did that at one work place correcting what he had done before he was asked to leave the place. It isn't fun doing someone else's comebacks for the first month you work in a new shop. But a bigger contributor to bearing failure is having someone do a haphazard job of packing the bearings. I've seen too many that didn't get packed right. Dabbing a bit of grease on the outside of the balls or cone and then filling the hub with grease expecting it to "flow" into the bearing doesn't contribute to long bearing life.