I replaced the bearings on my '89 f150 and i'm not sure how tight to make the locknut. It is directly next to the outer bearing so I'm not sure if it should be tight against it or loose enough so I can spin the rotor assembly by hand. Thanks

 

From what i remember, when i did mine, i just tightened them until they wouldn't tighten anymore. You should still be able to spin the rotor by hand when they're tight.

 

OK, first of all, it's not a locknut, it's a castelated nut, or, on most Fords, it's a regular old nut with a castelated cap. That being said, you should crank the nut down as tight as you can with a pair of plyers and rotate the rotor a few times to squeeze the grease. Then loosen the nut and retighten as tight as you can using only your fingers (no tools). Then put the cotter key in - if the slots do not line up, tighten to the next open slot, do not loosen.

 

jas88, couldn't have put it any better myself. Ford's tapered bearings are always done this way. Same way I did them on my first car, a '72 Merc Comet.

 

very good answer jas88.

 

Yes, Good answer.

 

Is this a 4x4?

If so - if it uses the inner bearing with a hole in the race, and a washer with a pin in it, then the outer jam nut needs to see north of 150ft - 175

if its the type with the depressable lock nut then 70 90 25 - meaning 70ft, then back off 90 degrees, then 25ft while spinning.

if 2wd then you can apply this as well but perhaps 20ft on the final.