Front wheel bearings

[denguy]

Is it possible to take up any play in possibly worn bearings by tightening the big nut on the end of the drive shaft?

[Team Lightning]

All I would do is verify that the torque setting on the nut is correct. If you over tighten it, you will be replacing them sooner than you want. I had a shop replace mine years ago, they over tightened them. Less than 20 miles later, they were screaming.

[gauge_half_inch]

All I would do is verify that the torque setting on the nut is correct. If you over tighten it, you will be replacing them sooner than you want. I had a shop replace mine years ago, they over tightened them. Less than 20 miles later, they were screaming.

sounds more to me like a grease packing job. i used a shop press and pressed mine back together to 7tons and used an impact for the axle nut, 20k later not a noise. Im also an ase certified mechanic with 6 years professional experience and have done every fwd pressed bearing the same way with never an issue. Just make sure the bearings are well packed with grease and the seals are good. Obviously hammering on it with your 1000 ftlb impact gun till it wont budge any more is bad. just use your common sense about it.

[Mike McKown]

Is it possible to take up any play in possibly worn bearings by tightening the big nut on the end of the drive shaft?

The "end play" in the bearings is controlled by the hub, bearings themselves, and the spacer between them. The torque of the nut has nothing to do with it.

[Team Lightning]

I disagree with you Mike. Over torque the nut and those bearings will not last. The last ones that were destroyed were installed by an ASE certified mechanic, who finally admitted that he over torqued them the first time

[Team Lightning]

[ Im also an ase certified mechanic with 6 years professional experience]

Gauge: I'm not even gonna go to the ASE certified thing. Had a lot of bad experiences with ASE certified mechanics.
ASE certified mechanics are NOT allowed to touch my Festiva!!

[Mike McKown]

I disagree with you Mike. Over torque the nut and those bearings will not last. The last ones that were destroyed were installed by an ASE certified mechanic, who finally admitted that he over torqued them the first time

The nut squeezes everything together. The "squeezing" stops when the inner races hit the spacer. How could more torque on the nut reduce the clearance unless it compressed a solid steel spacer?

There was no such thing as ASE when I started wrenching.

[Gomez]

ASE certification has nothing to do with the quality of mechanic. It is only a certification program. My Father-in-law is ASE certified. I would say he is prolly well within the top 500 mechanics in the country. My Brother-in-law is also ASE certified. I would say he would be lucky to make it into my top 50,000. It comes down to the nature of the person, their standard of excellence, experience, and desire to get the job done right among many others.

Also not allowing someone to touch your car just because they are ASE certified may possibly be doing an injustice to your car. There may be more to the guy than the patch on his arm.

[denguy]

So, Mckown, you are saying that if the big nut is torked down to spec and there is still some shake in the wheel, the bearings are worn down.

[Mike McKown]

So, Mckown, you are saying that if the big nut is torked down to spec and there is still some shake in the wheel, the bearings are worn down.

That'd be my take on it. What's yours?

[WmWatt]

I agree with Mike. If you take the front wheels apart you can see what he means. The rear bearings are adjustable but not the fronts.

[Team Lightning]

Also not allowing someone to touch your car just because they are ASE certified may possibly be doing an injustice to your car. There may be more to the guy than the patch on his arm.

Twice I have let an ASE "certified" mechanic "repair" my Festiva. Both times they took the right rear axle nut off with an impact wrench and stripped the axle nut. then told me it was "crossed threaded". No, they weren't the same person or location. One was in Murfreesboro,TN, the other was in Cleveland GA and was recommended by a relative. Also the GA shop was an Import Specialist. He even complained that he lost money on my Festiva and didn't know if he wanted to work on it again. Like I'm gonna bring it back after he destroys the right rear axle and the front bearings!! I"m not saying that ASE certification is bad. But the ASE certified mechanics I've let work on my Festiva didn't seem to understand the operation of an impact wrench. "Just pull the trigger and replace what ever it breaks ". That alone makes me wonder and very reluctant to let one touch my car when it involves mechanical work.

[denguy]

Does the right rear axle nut have a lefthand thread?

[WmWatt]

denguy: yes, one of the rear axles on my '89 L is reverse thread. Just repacked bearings last week. Can't remember which it was. Just look at ends of thread on spindle to see which way to turn.

[htchbck]

Twice I have let an ASE "certified" mechanic "repair" my Festiva. Both times they took the right rear axle nut off with an impact wrench and stripped the axle nut. then told me it was "crossed threaded". No, they weren't the same person or location. One was in Murfreesboro,TN, the other was in Cleveland GA and was recommended by a relative. Also the GA shop was an Import Specialist. He even complained that he lost money on my Festiva and didn't know if he wanted to work on it again. Like I'm gonna bring it back after he destroys the right rear axle and the front bearings!! I"m not saying that ASE certification is bad. But the ASE certified mechanics I've let work on my Festiva didn't seem to understand the operation of an impact wrench. "Just pull the trigger and replace what ever it breaks ". That alone makes me wonder and very reluctant to let one touch my car when it involves mechanical work.

PM me what shop in Cleveland that was so I can steer folks down here away from there. And next time you need rear bearings done, just bring it to the house, I'll put them on for ya! The ones in Babystiva held up great for the whole trip :lol: