Spindle nut tightening

Tighten by hand until all slop and freeplay is gone. Then wrench it another

1/4 turn to pre-load the bearing. Now back it off about 1/8 turn, more or less to line it up with the cotter-pin hole. If you're a tech and spec nut, endplay should be between .001 and .003.

If you go strictly by the book and have the necessary tools, you need a dial indicator to set the axial end play of the drum properlly, but it is not really necessary to be that accurate. You need to set the nut to the point that the drum still turns freely (wheel removed). I would not recomend tightening it by hand, because the nut might be binding on the threads before it bottoms on the bearings. Use a wrench to screw it in, but no force is necessary, just enough to turn the nut till it bottoms.

If you have replaced the bearings, you should re-check the nut after some driving, cause the bearing races will seat better in the drum, and the setting will loosen a bit.

Bill, '67 Bug.

Take Bills advice. I did something horribly wrong with my drivers side bearing a week or so ago, and when I checked it a few days later, my wheel was about falling off. I would suggest driving it a bit, and then pulling the tire off and shaking the rotor a bit to see if it still feels the way it did when you put it on. Not really, really, lose like mine was. That means if you pull the rotor back off, your bearings will fall out like musking shoot. Only a six dollar six, but having a wheel pop off on the highway could be a BAAAD thing.

Also, it probably goes without saying, but tighten that alan style screw down real good.

-Ray

Yes, but do not overdo it, because it could strip the threads or break. Use a cheapie L shaped soft iron allen wrench, the ones that will bend if you try to overtighten anything.

Bill, '67 Bug.