Wheel bearing pre tension question?

[Rick W]

Yes, a good mechanic would have….

And you know what they say about “ass u me”….

 

[sgtsandman]

I use the same method mentioned above for my trailer bearings that use a similar setup. Tighten up the castle nut pretty tight but not German torque tight while spinning the hub to seat the bearings then loosen and only tighten up just enough for the castle gap to line up with the cotter pin hole.

I've had the same bearings that came with the trailer since 2007 and they are still in perfect shape. As long as they are a decent bearing and are taken care of with some preventative maintenance from time to time, they should last a very long time.

That being said, I'm probably about due for a bearing change regardless. Pressing one's luck with trailer bearings is usually not a good idea.

 

[pjtoledo]

FYI, older hubs had notches inside them to access the bearing races with punch/tools.
some replacement hubs have absolutely no to access the races unless you do some grinding to make access notches.

 

[SenorNoob]

Every 4x4 rotor I've had has the center of the rotor cut out just slightly larger (1/16?) than the inside diameter of the races. Also takes VERY little force to knock them out. My baby 8oz hammer and a cheap flat screwdriver (Harbor Freight FTW) does it nicely using Rick's method. I'll also add that sometime later I've always needed to tighten the bearings. Could be anywhere from 100 - 5000 miles later.