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axel nuts keep coming loose?

N

_nick_

New member
i just installed my 2nd set of front wheel hubs, problem with the first ones were the company did not provide a pre-load torque value so I just torqued to the factory 120, which i later find out is way too low for the cheap-o bearing assemblies. The new ones come with a nice box and have a little card that says they "differ slightly from OEM and need to be torqued to 180 ft/lb" It was good for a few days, but after a good run on the highway i get the click click click sound of an under torqued bearing while slowing down and my abs/trac off/svs lights kick on. Same issue i had with the old bearings, but I broke the abs wire off one of the old ones so i returned them:th_tongue2:. The clicking goes away when i grab a torque wrench and crank them down again but I have to do this every week or so:th_scratchhead:

Should I pull the nut off and use loctite?
Is there any step I missed? Ive heard some people say you need to grease the splines on the axel, I cant see why but I never did this.
Also, are you supposed to torque the axel nuts up on a jack or with the weight of the car on the wheel? does it matter?
 


As far as the grease goes the reason why you put grease on anything your torqueing is so you get more accurate torqueing not sure why you should put any on the splines unless it makes it easier to remove down the road this way. and as long as you hear that torque wrench click then it doesent matter if it's up on jack stands or not. I dont see how that dang nut is comming loose. Try some lock tight red.
 
I'd use BLUE loctite!!!!! normal, or the new gel stick.

Red....you wll need a torch to get the nut off....when you have the replace something again.
 
I dont see how they could back off either. All the ones I have messed with have had a spot that was punched to dent on side of it so that it would not back off like that, its intentionally made to not be exactly round. The only other thing I could think of doing is using a back up nut. That is to say put on the axle nut and torque it then put another nut in after it and torque it too if there is room to do all that.
 
You put grease on the splines to keep any rust from forming in between the hub and shaft and like TDC said, it helps it come off easier later on. Just a little surface rust in between the two can be a nightmare to get off being that it's a tight fit anyway.
 


UR LOSN said:
I'd use BLUE loctite!!!!! normal, or the new gel stick.

Red....you wll need a torch to get the nut off....when you have the replace something again.
Click to expand...

air impact will do it fine (if you have a good one) that's all I ever used on suspension (when I was at the dealer that was all we were allowed to use)
 
The nut that was on mine when I replaced the original factory hubs was just a regular 36mm nut...and now that i think of it I may have made the mistake of getting some spray-grease on the threads the first time around, so i could easily hand tighten the nut in to the bearing (it was real tight even with a ratchet)..maybe i should take the nut off and put some brake cleaner or de-greaser on those threads and loctite it? Kind of a PITA because I had to borrow a torque wrench that went up to 180 pounds, mine only goes up to 150 :th_sick1:
 
second set of wheel hubs and already i got a bad wheel sensor. Just today the trac/abs/svs lights kick on...I restart and they go away...I back out of my driveway and the second I move an inch forward, the lights kick back on. I guess the myth was right about the cheap wheel hubs! they suck! Can I just pull my ABS fuse to get rid of the dummy lights? I dont care about having ABS but i hate those 3 lights on all the time...the ladies think "oh my what is wrong with your car?!" lol...
 
Could pop the bulbs out. With the fuses out, the computer could sense something wrong and start throwing codes. Then you'd have to run around with the ses light on. Just a thought could be wrong though.
 
Yea, taking out your ABS fuse will trigger an ABS, trac, stability(if you have it), and maybe more lights so that wouldnt be wise.

As far as the nut tightening goes, I love air guns..... then again I also have unlimited acess to one so I'm kinda biased lol. But seriously maybe your local dealer or jiffy lube etc.. may be willing to tighten em for ya for free.
 


naw...impact wrench would destroy a bearing...that and the spec is 180 ft/lb of torque, wich i have no problem getting...but it keeps backing off. The ABS kind of pisses me off...when I turn the wheels in reverse sometimes i get a "low trac" light...sometimes i put it in drive and the abs/trac/svs lights kick on...other times its fine. Connectors are all clicked in and no wires are messed up from what I can see. cheap-o bearings are a no-no
 
Why don't you let everybody know what brand these ''cheap wheel bearings'' are or at least me since i have the tcs lights on because of them.
 
ordered online from www.1aauto.com ...this website is very trustworthy and for the most part I have had good results with their auto parts...but when it comes to wheel hubs stay away! the original wheel hubs they sent me looked to be made well, but they shipped in a plain white box that simply said "made in china"...there were no other documents or anything included, just the hubs. When the company shipped me replacements, they came in nice boxes that said "Auto eXtra" and had some inserts that said axle torqe and had extra ABS clips. They also looked well made, the only difference between these ones and the original was the color of the studs. These had black studs and the others had blue.
 
Yea... I don't know what kind of hub bearings you are using but an impact gun shouldnt break a bearing. At least the hundreds ive done have never broken.
 
it says on the box not to use an impact gun ..apparently you can damage the bearings from the hammering...i doubt the bearing would get damaged, but the problem is the bearings need a certain pre-load (118 ft/lb factory spec)...an air gun would just over-tighten them and the bearings would heat up and wear out a lot sooner.
 


_nick_ said:
it says on the box not to use an impact gun ..apparently you can damage the bearings from the hammering...i doubt the bearing would get damaged, but the problem is the bearings need a certain pre-load (118 ft/lb factory spec)...an air gun would just over-tighten them and the bearings would heat up and wear out a lot sooner.
Click to expand...

Rofl, what a load of bull.

Get a air gun, tighten it, done.
 
I did use an air gun, about 2 years ago on my old car...bearing made noise after a road trip from Ontario to Colorado...failed soon after. Mechanic laughed at me when i told him I tightened it with an impact wrench :o I learned my lesson :th_thumbsup-wink:
 
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