Wheel bearing question

[BigWaffles]

I have a 2010 2wd Ranger with about 11,500 mi on it. I noticed the other day that the front wheel bearings had a little play in them. I didn't want to mess with taking a day off to get it into the dealer for a warrany check so I adjusted both sides per the book (torque to 20ft/lbs, loosen, re-torque to 20in/lbs). After about 20 miles they were loose again. Is it normal to have a little play in the wheel bearings on the newer trucks or is it possible that I have 2 sets of bad bearings from the factory? Would it cause problems to adjust them to remove the play even though it would be tighter than the book suggests? Thanks.


C.P.T.

 

[greenpus]

with wheels off the ground, you can grab the top and bottom of tire and slightly wobble it. that is normal. The wheel bearing always has a little play unless you over tighten it. The taller the tire, the more noticeable the wobble is.
On my 31 inch tires I have somewhere between 1/8 to 1/4 inch movement. The stock tires had around 1/8 inch or less.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

with wheels off the ground, you can grab the top and bottom of tire and slightly wobble it. that is normal. The wheel bearing always has a little play unless you over tighten it. The taller the tire, the more noticeable the wobble is.
On my 31 inch tires I have somewhere between 1/8 to 1/4 inch movement. The stock tires had around 1/8 inch or less.

no. bearings should not have that much play

waffles:
they need to be tightened to 20ft/lb while turning the rotor to seat the bearings.. then backed off and hand tightened until all the slack is out. then you lock the nut in place.

if they got sloppy again you might have over tightened them and caused them to fail

 

[greenpus]

they need to be tightened to 20ft/lb while turning the rotor to seat the bearings.. then backed off and hand tightened until all the slack is out. then you lock the nut in place.

sorry but you're wrong. he is also following the procedure from the ford manual so he is correct in the way he is tightening the bearings.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

explain then. tapered roller bearings should have a maximum of .005" play

if you put too much preload on them they overheat

 

[greenpus]

explain then. tapered roller bearings should have a maximum of .005" play

if you put too much preload on them they overheat

that .005 play is at the bearing and not at the top of the tire. When I had the stock 26-28 inch tires on my truck, the wobble was almost not there and hardly noticeable but when I put 31-32 inch tires that wobble was a lot more at the top and bottom of the tire.

proper torqueing according to the ford manual:
spin disc counter clockwise while torquing to 17-24lb/ft.
loosen nut
spin disc clockwise while torquing to 17lb/in
Also note these are two different torques. One is lb/ft and the final is lb/in

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

and at that point you should have NO slack. 1/4" of play at the tire would feel pretty sloppy

 

[BigWaffles]

Hmmm.... I always believed that wheel bearings should feel tight with no play, I just wasn't sure on the newer vehicles. I'll wait for a little more input but might end up visiting the dealer after all. Thanks for the replies so far.


C.P.T.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

try doing an alignment on a truck with 1/4" of play on the front wheels. this would throw the run-out compensation way off, which would then throw all the readings off

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Agreed. There should NOT be any really noticeable slop in the bearings when properly adjusted. You'll never see a tech using a torque wrench to set wheel bearings, all by feel. You want just enough torque on the nut to retain the bearing with no slop in it.

 

[BigWaffles]

Off to the dealer it is. I'd play with it some more, but since it's under warranty I'll let them take care of it. Thanks for the replies.


C.P.T.

 

[The_Dealer]

yea my 00 had no bearing play after i had to replace them. i had about 1/4 inch on one side and the other almost welded itself together

 

[06RangerXLT]

Off to the dealer it is. I'd play with it some more, but since it's under warranty I'll let them take care of it. Thanks for the replies.


C.P.T.

they wont warranty it. ive taken my truck in for the same problem. 4x4 bearings, 0 play because its a driving axle. 2wd, slight play. just leave it. i drive my truck around with play in the front, its how every 2wd ranger is. if you over tighten them, you will toast a bearing.

 

[IRKillroy]

I'd like to see someone tighten a bolt to .005" and see how much play that could possibly have 2ft away from it. You have only .005" of play... someone do the math.

15.5" times pie should equal the circumfrance (49). divide by 360 (get get the break down for degrees) (0.14" per degree)

so to see how much play it would have at a 31" wheel you take the .005" and multiply it by 49 to get the travel it should have at the 15.5" distance from center(ish)... which is..... 0.245... a quarter of an inch.

If my math is wrong then someone please correct me and I'll actually look up the equations.

 

[06RangerXLT]

I'd like to see someone tighten a bolt to .005" and see how much play that could possibly have 2ft away from it. You have only .005" of play... someone do the math.

15.5" times pie should equal the circumfrance (49). divide by 360 (get get the break down for degrees) (0.14" per degree)

so to see how much play it would have at a 31" wheel you take the .005" and multiply it by 49 to get the travel it should have at the 15.5" distance from center(ish)... which is..... 0.245... a quarter of an inch.

If my math is wrong then someone please correct me and I'll actually look up the equations.

i love it