bearings tight or loose no between

[a70eliminator]

Just installed new bearings and races, I snug the nut to remove all play felt by jiggling wheel and end up between notches of the castle and can't install cotter pin, back off to notch and now can feel play, go to next notch and no more play but wheel drags slightly when spun.
I tried switching nuts side for side and still same thing, I'm sure the races are fully bottomed, what should I do tighten and take a little 5 mile trip and see if they get warm, or just leave them on the loose? I don't like it.

 

[Mark42]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

I believe that once tightened until all play is gone, and wheel spins freely, the castle nut should be backed off until the cotter pin is installed. Don't tighten to get the cotter pin in.

Back it off, go for a drive, then see if you can seat it any better, otherwise, just leave it as is.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Yea that sounds right, I've never had such a hard time with wheel bearings, right off I installed the inner seal and forgot to put the bearing cone in first, daahh. another probelem is the spindle threads are hammered so there's no finger tightening the nut on either side now, this is the first time in 28 years of towing this boat that I've had the spindles off, I just figured it was time, thinking I shoulda just left it alone.

 

[MXHalofan]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

FWIW, I took apart the hubs of my 10 year old utility trailer and they were in great shape. They both had play in the spindle before I took em apart, so they went back together the same way.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Did you try to take up one notch in the castle nut?

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

A tight bearing is a hot bearing and a very quick to wear out bearing. A little play goes a long long way. Not only in trailer bearings but in industrial use as well. Back off to the nearest pin hole and all will be well.
My 2 cents.

 

[huntndakota]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

i had a trailer inspection mechanic put new bearings in my utility trailer 2 yrs. ago and he "preloaded" the bearings so the cotter pin would fit he said you had to do this. tighten castle nut up by hand, then a little more with a wrench, then back nut off and rehand tighten should line up.

 

[robert graham]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Tighten the castle nut by hand while spinning the wheel with the other hand. As you tighten it with your fingers, you can feel the bearings begin to tighten up, then just back it off just a bit, install cotter pin and you're ready to roll! I would not apply a wrench to the castle nut because that amount of torque is not necessary or desirable for bearings.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Well, Everyone has an opinion on this so I will just give you the logic for pre-loading and then you decide for yourself!

The bearings inside the hub are tapered roller bearings. They are designed at the factory to run with zero clearance. The tapers face inward on both bearings so when the load of the trailer is on the wheel, they tend to "spread apart" very slightly, thus increasing the running clearance. Additionally, when the trailer goes around a turn, the outside bearing on one side of the axle and the inside bearing on the other side are additionally loaded.

A good mechanic will compensate for these loads by pre-loading the bearings so that during all running conditions, the bearings will be at or close to zero clearance.

Please note that pre loading is a slight condition; you do not take a breaker bar to the nut and grunt tighten it. You do snug the nut down until there is noticible drag on the wheel when turned, then loosen until it (the wheel) turns freely.

Usually, one notch on the castle nut will not affect bearings much.

NOW: You decide

 

[moi]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Well, Everyone has an opinion on this so I will just give you the logic for pre-loading and then you decide for yourself!

The bearings inside the hub are tapered roller bearings. They are designed at the factory to run with zero clearance. The tapers face inward on both bearings so when the load of the trailer is on the wheel, they tend to "spread apart" very slightly, thus increasing the running clearance. Additionally, when the trailer goes around a turn, the outside bearing on one side of the axle and the inside bearing on the other side are additionally loaded.

A good mechanic will compensate for these loads by pre-loading the bearings so that during all running conditions, the bearings will be at or close to zero clearance.

Please note that pre loading is a slight condition; you do not take a breaker bar to the nut and grunt tighten it. You do snug the nut down until there is noticible drag on the wheel when turned, then loosen until it (the wheel) turns freely.

Usually, one notch on the castle nut will not affect bearings much.

NOW: You decide

Agree 100%......have done it that way for years.

 

[Thumper68]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Agree 100%......have done it that way for years.

Plus 2. Have done it this way on farm equipment, trailers, aircraft, cars, for the last 35 years. On aircraft the manafactuer actually gives a speciefied torque for prelaoding.

YMMV.

 

[nlain]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

What Frank said and if you have disc brakes the bearings need preload to keep the rotor from leaning to one side or the other and causing premature pad wear, also if the rotors can move a little they will also push the pads further apart than normal which may cause lack of brake problems especially with surge brakes where there is limited travel of the actuator.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Well, Everyone has an opinion on this so I will just give you the logic for pre-loading and then you decide for yourself!

The bearings inside the hub are tapered roller bearings. They are designed at the factory to run with zero clearance. The tapers face inward on both bearings so when the load of the trailer is on the wheel, they tend to "spread apart" very slightly, thus increasing the running clearance. Additionally, when the trailer goes around a turn, the outside bearing on one side of the axle and the inside bearing on the other side are additionally loaded.

A good mechanic will compensate for these loads by pre-loading the bearings so that during all running conditions, the bearings will be at or close to zero clearance.

Please note that pre loading is a slight condition; you do not take a breaker bar to the nut and grunt tighten it. You do snug the nut down until there is noticible drag on the wheel when turned, then loosen until it (the wheel) turns freely.

Usually, one notch on the castle nut will not affect bearings much.

NOW: You decide

I totally agree with everything you've said and it's exactly how I've set up wheel bearings in the past.
I believe my problem is due to the spindle threads being messed up, I think the amount of travel has changed, sorta like a coarse thread vs the fine thread, I no longer have a fine thread. I'm going to have to address this thread situation or live with a little excessive clearence, like I said one notch the wheel and tire drags just a tad when I spin it by hand, back off a notch and then I can jiggle the tire and wheel just a tad, I'm thinking the nut moves more than it should from notch to notch due to the threads messed up.

 

[109jb]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

A tiny bit of preload is how I do it. Never had a bearing failure on a trailer, truck, car, etc. Well except for the little utility trailer of mine, but it was a new trailer and I never installed the bearings myself. Must have been installed wrong or bad bearings from the factory.

 

[whitjohn]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

If the bearing is set properly and greased properly....with the wheel and tire on, spin it by hand and it will continue to spin for a pretty good while....if it slows down and stops fairly quickly.....it's too tight.

Also if your threads are buggered up......well let me just say.......I saw a wheel come off because of that.....not mine but nevertheless....check that closely.
You can get a replacement spindle fairly cheap and get it welded in.
That's how nearly all axles are made anyway. Square or round tubing with spindles welded in. I've replaced several for people.

 

[mla2ofus]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

I also agree w/ Frank. A little preload is better than having slack.
Mike

 

[redone4x4]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

mine has washers on under the castle nut...Can you maybe get different thickness washers to get it lined up right?

 

[CatTwentyTwo]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

I totally agree with everything you've said and it's exactly how I've set up wheel bearings in the past.
I believe my problem is due to the spindle threads being messed up, I think the amount of travel has changed, sorta like a coarse thread vs the fine thread, I no longer have a fine thread. I'm going to have to address this thread situation or live with a little excessive clearence, like I said one notch the wheel and tire drags just a tad when I spin it by hand, back off a notch and then I can jiggle the tire and wheel just a tad, I'm thinking the nut moves more than it should from notch to notch due to the threads messed up.

I'll bet that you have the standard castle nut with six slots and I agree, it is pretty hard to get the fine adjustment that others are talking about. On 3 out of 4 wheels on my trailer I could not get the cotter pin in with a slight pre-lode on the bearings and just going a bit tighter to get the pin in was way too tight. Then when I backed off to get a slot lined up it felt like the bearings were way too loose for my liking. I purchased the replacement castle nuts that have twelve slots in them and they are much easier to adjust. You might not still get the exact pre-lode you are looking for but at least when you back one off to the next notch it wont feel like the bearings are way too loose.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

Yes! I thought it seemed too far between the notches, your right there are 6 notches.
I looked at E-trailer plus a bunch of other sites and only see the 6 notched nuts, but I do see washers so I may see if i can get a couple locally and give that a try tomorrow, I thought maybe I was just tired and it was so hot out, so today I gave it another try but still end up right smack between where there isn't a notch, seems like there have been washers there anyhow.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: bearings tight or loose no between

The link below is what Champion Trailers has to say about the procedures. They recommend 15-20lbs.-ft of pre-load. Good luck!

http://www.championtrailers.com/techsup.html#pre-loadbearings