front wheel bearings by feel or special tools?

[sigtauenus]

Hi guys, I just finished changing out my struts successfully, but in the process, busted off a wheel stud.

 

This is on a 98 4x4, 134,000 miles.

 

I pulled everything apart on that side, replaced the stud, and since I was in there, cleaned and repacked the bearings, put on a new seal, and reassembled it. Unfortunately, the manual calls for a special tool to tighten the locknut to a specific torque to seat the bearings, then back it off a little, and then use a pull guage to measure how much force is needed to spin the rotor.

 

I struck out at both Pep Boys and Autozone trying to get either tool, so I put it together by feel. I drove to work and it seems fine, but I'd have more peace of mind knowing it was done right, so I'm still looking for the tools to do this by the book, hopefully this weekend before I put too many miles on it and risk ruining the bearings.

 

Any suggestions on a place to buy the tools from. I don't even know what they are actaully called to try to google them.

 

FWIW, I used a pair of needlenose pliers to tighten the locknut as tight as I could with the pliers to seat the bearings, then backed it out again. I then retightened it like I was putting on a bottle cap. Basically tightened it until it felt seated but did not really apply a lot of effort beyond that. I put the tire on, checked that it didn't wobble, took the tire back off, tighted it just enough to align the lock washer screws, and then finished assembly and went from there.

[94extreme]

i've never used any special tools. by feel is just fine.. after the initial tightening, did you spin the wheel to seat the bearing properly? then back it of just enough to allign the holes?

 

i can't remember exactly but i am thinking they call for like 30ftlbs.. you can guesstimate that force, no?

[sigtauenus]

i can't remember exactly but i am thinking they call for like 30ftlbs.. you can guesstimate that force, no?

No, not really. I'm a very poor judge of force. I rely heavily on my torque wrench.

 

I did spin the wheel before I backed off the locknut.

[94extreme]

lol. ok, go pick up 30 1lb cans for comparison and then try it on your truck.

 

bags of taters will work too.

[zonianbrat]

Yeah then you can say you used some taters to lock your nuts and bearings.

[XPLORx4]

I doubt you were able to use enough force to seat the bearings using only needlenose pliers.

 

To seat the bearings, I've always used the "hammer and punch" method (and it's worked fine):

 

 

Tighten the bearings down fully, then back off the nut, then reseat lightly.

Edited July 21, 2006 by XPLORx4

[lewisnc100]

I've got the locknut socket tool, OTC7698 but its kind of pricey. You can search for that number and find it pretty easily, I think I got mine from handsontools.com. I think the CTA4170 tool will also fit, but it was out of stock when I was looking.

 

You can also buy a standard locknut socket from the auto parts store and make it fit by grinding off any extra pins and bending the remaining two. Here's a pic of the OTC tool:

 

http://groups.msn.com/LewisPictures/shoebo...hoto&PhotoID=21

[turbopath]

les schwab sold me the tool for 30 bucks I think.

[PathA4]

Here's that socket for $13 from summit racing.

 

Summit Racing Link

 

I had to grind the square pegs a tiny bit to fit flush in the round holes, but otherwise it's a perfect fit.