Front wheel bearings, how tight?

[texaxile]

Hi,
sorry if this seems a daft question but I always seem to get spot on answers here, you guys are "gurus"

Car : 1981 Lancer turbo

The front wheel bearings (macpherson struts) can be adjusted and tightened by the locking nut located on the hubs (same as older RWD fords basically). However, I have no idea of the torque settings or indeed how tight they need to be. As it took me ages and at a fairly large cost to obtain the new bearings and hubs, I'm keen to not bks it up.

In the old days it would be a case of tightening to stop any "wobble" plus 1/4 turn, but that was when I didn't need to spunk the thick end of a few hundred quid on getting the genuine parts in from Japan and the Philippines.

I understand the need to not overtighten, but I'm cautious of causing problems by undertightening as well.

TIA and virtual G&T's all round.

Edit: primary school level of spelling.

[stevieturbo]

It really depends on the design of bearing.

Tapered ? Rollers ? 1 piece, 2, more ?

central spacer or not ? etc etc.

[texaxile]

Stevie

Sorry fella, should have given more detail, my bad.

Tapered toward the hub, greased roller bearings (one piece) , no spacer but one large located washer by way of a small dowel on the outside of the bearing followed by a lock nut, serrated cover and final split pin.

Pretty much the same set up as RWD Fords of the era (80's) iirc.

[stevieturbo]

pics would help.

roller bearings are not taper bearings

If there is a solid central section where the nut tightens...then chances are you can tighten the crap out of it.

If not...then no.

Although it should be obvious that if you do tighten it too much and you start to hear strange noises and the baring no longer turns....you probably werent supposed to do that lol.

[Boosted LS1]

I think it's a case of tightening them until it's either really tight or you feel resistance in which case back off a bit :-) Isn't there anything on line to help with the specs?

[texaxile]

Stevie apologies again mate lol, here is a pic of a very similar bearing which goes into the hub (same design). When you said "tapered" you can see what I meant, my confusion was with the "roller bearings", I was under the mistaken understanding that the type I described were the elongated bearings as shown.

LS1, nothing online or even anecdotal on the MLR apart from "just do them up then slack off a bit" - they don't really chew bearings up as a rule hence it's a bit hit and miss.



Basically the same type I am fitting save for dimensions and the metal "shroud" is not included.

Edited by texaxile on Thursday 24th August 23:43

Edited by texaxile on Thursday 24th August 23:45

[HustleRussell]

You don't want to go torquing that nut up. Do it up with your spanner / wrench (fingertips only). Refit the wheel with a couple of nuts. Check you don't have bearing play with the usual 12-and-6 9-and-3 method. Spin the wheel, ensure the bearings aren't so tight that they are binding. Adjust the castellated nut in the smallest increments available (usually sixteenths of a turn). Repeat the process until you have the a barely detectable amount of play and no binding. If you find yourself between two increments, with one causing slight binding and one allowing a little play, always pick the looser of the two. Recheck and readjust the bearings after a short test drive, you will find that they have loosened up slightly.

[HustleRussell]

I should add, for the test drive you should of course put the bottle cap & split pin back on, and the rest of the wheel nuts... and remember to pump the brake pedal before you set off to bring the pistons back into contact with the pads!

[texaxile]

HustleRussell said:

You don't want to go torquing that nut up. Do it up with your spanner / wrench (fingertips only). Refit the wheel with a couple of nuts. Check you don't have bearing play with the usual 12-and-6 9-and-3 method. Spin the wheel, ensure the bearings aren't so tight that they are binding. Adjust the castellated nut in the smallest increments available (usually sixteenths of a turn). Repeat the process until you have the a barely detectable amount of play and no binding. If you find yourself between two increments, with one causing slight binding and one allowing a little play, always pick the looser of the two. Recheck and readjust the bearings after a short test drive, you will find that they have loosened up slightly.

I understand, so as you say do it up pretty much fingertight plus a bit, and adjust to the increments of the "lock" or castellated nut (as they are divided incrementally) so I attain a medium of no resistence and no binding, erring on the side of loose, then add the split pin and refit the cover and wheel. Run it for a bit and then check again.
To be certain I'll pull the brake caliper back clear (it's just one bolt) and spin it up after a test drive. No torque settings needed.

Thanks for the clarification, although I know the car very well, it was nagging me as to if there was a specific torque or setting needed, I honestly could not remember. I've added plenty of grease to the hub and bearing as per manufacturers spec.

Apologies for any confusion over the bearing types, it's not my forte.

I would (maybe wrongly) assume that it is the same as doing a Ford FWB from the same era. I remember looking at the Lancer one and thinking it was the same as a my old Capri, same type of castellated nut and bearing in all but diameter, even down to the dowelled washer.

• *Edit

Yep, I'll be sure to check my brakes lol! sounds like you found out the hard way

Edited by texaxile on Friday 25th August 01:12

[227bhp]

You get them as slack as you can without any movement when rocking the wheel, just tighten them a very small amount until that movement is gone.
Over greasing is the main culprit for premature failure as a tightly packed bearing overheats. It always makes me grimace to see the cover rammed full of grease and put on, or even any put in there at all, it's as if the person who did it thought the bearing had little hands which came out and scooped a bit in when it needed it

[stevieturbo]

texaxile said:

Stevie apologies again mate lol, here is a pic of a very similar bearing which goes into the hub (same design). When you said "tapered" you can see what I meant, my confusion was with the "roller bearings", I was under the mistaken understanding that the type I described were the elongated bearings as shown.

LS1, nothing online or even anecdotal on the MLR apart from "just do them up then slack off a bit" - they don't really chew bearings up as a rule hence it's a bit hit and miss.



Basically the same type I am fitting save for dimensions and the metal "shroud" is not included.

Edited by texaxile on Thursday 24th August 23:43

Edited by texaxile on Thursday 24th August 23:45

Obviously a wheel bearing will consist of more than one part....the other parts matter.

As said before, if there is a central spacer between the bearings, than chances are you can tighten like fk. If not...then probably not. But it will be fairly apparent if you're going wrong and tightening too much.