front bearings won't tighten up
 

i have a 2002 f350 sd i had a bad wobble in front end, had rotors turned replace pads, now a bearing went out replaced spendal but i have the same problem the right side tighten up and i back it of a little the drivers side won't tighten up tight enough to stop the wheel the first time i just tighten it up as far as i could and now the bearing is shot and is doing the same
need to get it going for my work in 7 hr. lo0st big time today
is there any body out there that can help

You don't want to tighten the bearing to the point where the wheel won't turn. That will cause bearing failure. You have to preload the bearing. I don't have the specs here and it varies by appliication. Usually, you tighten the bearing using a torque wrench and rotating the rotor. Sometime that's all you do and other times you back off the nut slightly. Generally if you snug the bearing while rotating the rotor and back off the nut a tad, will put you in the ball park. When you get done, the rotor should rotate smoothly yet not have any in and out movement. Grab the rotor, top and bottom, and try to rock it. There should be almost no rocking movement. If you can't tighten the nut enough, either you were given the wrong parts or something is missing.

Look in a shop manual or Chiltons/Haynes. Most of the heavy trucks require you to torque it really tight, I think my 94 F250 requires 200 foot pounds. Then you loosen it up and then retorque to around 50 foot pounds. Be sure to check manual for torque, it may be way different for your model.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

Is it 2 wheel drive or a 4X4? It makes a difference.

Its gotta be a 2wd nothing to tighten on a 4wd!!!!

You don't have to replace the spindle to change the bearing races on a 2wd. Plus there are 2 bearings, and inner bearing and an outer bearing.

He prob burn't the spindle thats why he changed it....Over tighten and heat up the bearings and lock em and spin on the spindle...Yummie

That very well could be. Who knows. Statistically bearings rarely go bad on a 2wd, and bad bearings on a 2002? Kinda young for that kind of death. (unless he drives in deep water a lot)

You know what else might be the problem? He might have installed new bearings without replacing the races in the hub. Since the bearings and races come as a matched set. If I remember correctly, you can't put the new bearing in an old race.

That's a surprise to me. I had plenty of torquing to do on my 94 F250 4x4. Could be different for different models and years like I said.

Jim Henderson

If it's a 2wd, you have to torque the Jesus nut but very little. You torque it to 21 ft/lbs while turning the rotor forward, then you stop, let the Jesus nut out 180* and then tighten to 18 ft/lbs again. That's a fairly light amount of torque. He's gonna have to take the rotors to work and use the old 30-ton press to get the old races out and press the new races in. (Remember which is the inner race/bearing set and which is the outer.)

A qualified mechanic might be the best answer at this point. Someone who can sort out what's wrong and correct it.

n578md

Thats 18 lbs/in

Not the same "qualified mechanic" who turned the rotors, replaced the pads and re-installed the bearings incorrectly I hope.

99 !!!!!

Boy we sure would like to see these type on our 4wd 's huh ???????
Oh the fun of repairable bearings !

I hate sealed bearings!

Rich

you can get those races out with a brass punch.
put your new ones in the freezer for about ten min.,put the rotors in front of the heater.

Then carry the races to the rotor in a towel,and they will just about drop right in.

We used to do this alot.

Rich