Rear Hub Nut

[chrisall]

How tight should the rear hub nut 'feel'?

I have a slight drone on left rear so suspected wheel bearing or hub nut not tight. The nut looked like it had loosened slightly as the split pin was hard up on one side of the slot in the castle nut. This was different to the drivers side where the slot was perfectly in line with the hole and the pin was a loose fit.

I wound my torque wrench up to max 210NM, but it clicked as soon as I tightened the nut and I could still move it a bit more without too much effort. With a 3foot breaker bar and a bit of weight on it I could turn the nut so that the next slot lined up with the hole in the shaft.

BTW - the nut is 36mm, not 32 as I read some have. I read basically it's supposed to be FT, and people having to undo with lengths of scaffolding etc.

Cheers

[kiwi1973]

'FT', as you put it, is correct. However, seems odd that you say you could still easily do the nut up further after your torque wrench 'clicked' at 210NM - are you sure the torque wrench is accurate?

If you have a drone that is caused by the wheel bearing then I somehow doubt tightening the hub nut is going to resolve this for you and I expect the wheel bearing is nearing time for replacement. I personally wouldn't be going 'bush' or anywhere remote until it was fixed. Sometimes wheel bearings drone for a long time, other times they fail very quickly and could easily leave you stranded.

Replace as a hub assembly - there is loads of rubbish on Ebay - be 100% certain to only fit an OEM quality replacement. There are cheaper options than buying from dealer, but the bearing itself should have a reputable quality name stamped on it, such as 'Koyo Japan'.

[mrbitchi]

255Nm. That's BLOODY tight

[chrisall]

However, seems odd that you say you could still easily do the nut up further after your torque wrench 'clicked' at 210NM - are you sure the torque wrench is accurate?

I have no way of knowing if the torque wrench is accurate, what I suspect is that I didn't torque it correctly as I didn't loosen it first. What I have found is that you can get false readings if you don't torque in one smooth action - if you stop part way then the wrench clicks as soon as you start to tighten again.

I do think the nut must have loosened to jam the split pin hard against the side of the castle nut, however like you say the bearing (assuming it's the original) is probably on its way out after the best part of 280k.

Cheers,

[chrisall]

255Nm. That's BLOODY tight

255 +/- 29Nm, so potentially 284Nm

Cheers,

[kiwi1973]

its such a high torque rating that i no longer measure it. i just tighten seriously using my 3/4 inch drive breaker bar. better too tight than not tight enough with this one perhaps

[GHendo]

Just in case it hasn’t been mentioned, you must tighten these nuts with the wheel off the ground – ie. the weight must NOT be on the vehicle. You have to have the wheel off the ground and get someone to sit in the car and keep their foot firmly planted on the brake while you tension the nut.

Geoff

[Dalma01]

Sorry to bring up an old thread.
Will a 36mm 6 point impact socket fit?
Or does it have to be a 12 point?

[erad]

It is a 6 point nut, you have a 6 point socket - it should comfortably fit. A 6 point socket is far better than a 12 point socket because it has more bite on the nut and is less likely to round off the points on the nut.

If you want a calibrated torque wrench, get the breaker bar level and stand on it. Your weight, determines the radius at which you stand.
Torque = weight (kg) x 9.81 x Radius.

For 255 N-m, and say 70 kg weight, radius = 255 /(70 x 9.81) = 0.37 m

So you stand such that your centre of gravity is 370 mm from the axle. Hang on to the roof rails whilst you are doing this, but do not use them to take any weight. Either that, or stand such that only one foot is on the bar, and that is at 370 mm from the axle centre.

[draganlada]

Sorry to bring up an old thread.
like most of other people on this forum I too had to re tighten the left rear wheel hub nut but me not having the torque wrench I have tightened it with air impact wrench really tight so my question now is does over tightening it can cause any damage to wheel bearing/hub ?

[honkur]

Hey Draganlada,

I have done the same thing as well but it shouldn't worry anything as the hub nut is holding the whole hub to the axle, and as the wheel bearings are a unit with the hub it's not going to worry them. So don't stress

[draganlada]

Thanks honkur
but how long ago you have done yours as I did my couple days ago and think I have time to

do rectification if needed

BTW it makes sense what you have explained