I need some guidance on how to torque the front wheel bearings on a '72 Cutlass. I torqued the castle nut while spinning the wheel and tightening with a torque wrench to 12 ft-lbs, then backed off to the nearest hole for the cotter pin. The wheel spins freely, but the wheel bearing seems loose. If I grab the top and bottom of the tire and wiggle in & out, there is about 1/8" lateral play in the bearing. Is this correct? If I tighten the castle nut to the next hole the play is completely gone; the wheel still spins freely but does stop sooner so the the bearing may be too tight.. I don't want to burn up the bearings but the 1/8" lateral play is equally concerning. Looking forward to the comments from the group!
Rodney

 

I learned the same process you describe using; but I backed off till slightly loose and I first tried finger snug to the next castellation. If that didn't get me quite there, I gave it a slight bump with a crescent wrench and called it good. That always worked for me, never had any issues; and that wheel bearing adventure was always an annual pilgrimage.

 

I have always adjusted the bearings by taking all the play out and moving to the next closest tighter hole. In 45 years of working on cars I never had an issue doing it this way.

 

As long as the wheel freely spins I would take it to the castellation on the nut and put the cotter pin in it. I agree 1/8 is a little too loose and will show wear on the tires and eventually the bearing. By taking it to the next castellation on the nut it might be a little tight but you also have grease in there that will make it seem tight. After doing this take it for a spin and check it to make sure there is little to no free play and the tire still spins freely.

 

im pretty sure the manual says something like torque to 32 ft lbs while turning the wheel back off the nut a half turn then tighten hand tight...i dotn have the manual in front of me

 

RetroRanger:
Thank you. I found that spec in the chassis manual (it was hidden between the shock absorber page and the alignment page). I also didn't realize that there is more than one castellation hole through the spindle. I was turning the spindle nut back too far, bypassing a closer hole.

Thank you to everyone for your comments and assistance. This is exactly why I love CO.com!
Rodney

 

I do whatever makes sense. First off, tighten the nut, spin the hub until the grease is squeezed out and the races are set. Not stupid tight, just a little snug. Back it off and retighten lightly. Look for nearest castellation and spindle hole. If it's close forward, go forward. If it's close backward, go backward. Simple but I'm sure this is wrong somehow to somebody. Let the flamers flame....

Disclaimer, I turned 21 in August...

 

I believe that there needs to be at least a minimum amount of preload on the tapered bearings (no slop), otherwise cornering loads will not be evenly distributed across the face of the bearings and rollers and will result in uneven bearing wear and shorter life. Thus, the initial torque seats the bearings and squeezes out excess grease, then backing off the nut until loose, then re-tightening it until all slop is removed, then tightening it to the next cotter pin position applies minimum preload on the bearings.