Hello All,

I recently replaced the front brakes on the ranger mainly because the wheels would shake a bit when I stopped.
I replaced the front bearings as well.
I had the original rotors turned.

I did a bunch of research on how to tighten down the bearings and had it done but I did get a bit of wobble from the front tires when breaking at high speed.
I thought that I may have to put on new rotors as the old ones that were turned may have some warping or issue still.

I checked the wheel bearings for slack and they were a bit too loose.

I use a torque wrench the second time and set them to 25 inch pounds ( this was the lowest value on the torque wrench that I had and at the high end of the spec)

I did have to go to harbor freight and get a 3/8 to 1/2 drive converter.

Took the car for a road trip and it feels much better.

I know that many mechanics can do this by feel but unfortunately for the non professional I don't have enough repetition to develop that feel.

Anyway, the torque wrench method seems to have done the trick.


Thanks for all your help and hopefully this will help someone.


BOB

 

what nut did you torque down?? when i did my ranger there was a spindle nut and you had to use a giant *** socket. I don't remember the exact value but it wasn't a huge torque value, that much i do remember. The spindle nut is only there to prevent the wheel from sliding left-right on the spindle, cranking it down hard can put a sideways load on your bearings and cause premature failure. Thats what the cotter pin is for, to prevent that nut from loosening once you crank it down.

 

It was the spindle nut with the cotter pin.

Thanks.

Bob

 

I was just told to tighten it up snug then back off about 1/4 turn. Wheel should just spin freely with little drag and no wobble. Not sure about torque specs.

I didn't check torque on mine because I used a pair of slip joint pliers. Didn't want to shell out for the 26mm socket or whatever the size was.

 

you do you, but man i wouldn't risk my life over a 18 dollar socket. if those axle nuts come loose the whole hub falls off your truck, this can cause a fatal accident or at minimum hundreds/thousands in damages to your truck or other people's trucks. Just be like me, and do the following:
1. buy harbor freight 1/2" socket
2. carefully use the socket during the job
3. hose down socket with brake cleaner and repackage it
4. return the socket to harbor freight.

Either that or borrow autozone's socket kit. its free.

 

Another tip if you are not going to use a torque wrench is to finish the job with the wheel on the car bolted down so that you can test the bearing for movement. I neglected that as all the videos and such had the wheel off when setting the tension on the spindle bolt.

Bob

 

Well they still needed a little more snugging up.

At high speed I still noticed a little bit of steering wheel movement.
Raised the front of the car and the front wheels had a bit of play. Much less than before but not snug.
So I put a bit more tension on the spindle nut and took it for a test drive and all seems good to go.
These things can be a bit fussy and I want it just right.

Bob

 

Well I checked them again and they loosened up a bit.

I have a little bit of play on both of the bearings.

I would think that they should be snug and not move at all.

I want to get this right as it does affect the way the car drives and want them seated correctly.

Not to tight not too loose. Just Right.



Thanks for any advice



Bob

 

Hello All,

Merry Christmas,

I had my very friendly neighbor who is a mechanic help me set the bearings.
He did it by feel and so far so good. It seems to be a bit tighter than what my torque wrench would have indicated but it may be out of spec and the way they were coming out were too loose. I drove them a bit and the bearings do not seem to be hot. We shall see how it goes. I still have a bit of a wobble but that my just the be rotors not being perfect. I had them turned by the same neighbor and they have 100k miles on them so they may not be perfect anymore. For now they should do the trick. The trouble is with the ranger there is no real forgiveness for these things as these trucks are light and not designed to insolate your from the road.


Thanks all for your help.


BOB