Socket Size for Bearing Adjustment Nuts

[HAL]

Sent: 7/11/2005

I am reducing the rear brakes on my 79 brave. The question I have is, what is the size of the socket for the bearing adjustment nuts?
there are 2 nuts that you have to remove to remove the brake drum. I was able to get them off, but I know that I am going to need the socket to reinstall them to get the proper bearing load.
thanks HAL

[Slantsixness]

Sent: 7/11/2005

On mine ('72 M300) it's a 2 1/2 straight cut axle nut socket. You can't use a standard socket because the socket wall is too thick. Most regular (not discount) Auto parts stores carry them called "truck axle lock nut sockets" they are less than $15 for each one, typically. They are made of stamped steel and welded to have thin side walls, and you can't use an impact gun (not that you should ever use an impact on them!)

Just to be sure, take one of the nuts with you. There are several different styles, and you'll notice that the nut is not the same size on both sides, they are stamped steel an one side is slightly smaller. This smaller side goes to the outboard side of the bearing.

The installation proses is described here just as a precautionary favor, not that you asked, but this process is important!

I would recommend at least changing the inner axle seal, clean and repack both bearings at a minimum. The process takes a little time, having to take the drum off the hub, but it's not too bad a job!

Alretta brake parts stocks all the good bearings and seals, by the way. (cheap plug for Geoff....!)

If you take your brakes apart and find almost no grease on the rear bearings (inner or outer) I would replace the bearings and races. They're inexpensive, but go for CP or Timken bearings, not the Cheap Chinese ones!

Pay close attention to the installation process:
Before starting the process, leave the brake adjusters ALL THE WAY LOOSE, or you won't be able to continue!
First, tighten the inner nut until the wheel binds slightly. (slows down when spun, tighten while spinning, not stopped)

Next, back the nut off and tighten again. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times, to fully seat both bearings, and spin the wheel a lot. It will make some unusual noises but that is to be expected.

Back the nut off 1/6 turn (1/6 turn is exactly one side of the nut face). This is really important! Check for 0 endplay in the bearing/hub assembly. If you still have endplay, start over with the process. If you changed the bearings and races, and the races did not seat fully, you will have endplay with a tight bearing.

Next, put the locking plate (that gear looking washer) on in the same direction it was taken off (pound it flat where it was cinched before) Ensure that the washer key itself is undamaged, or the lock nut can cause the axle nut to tighten.

Finally, install the outer lock nut, and ensure that when tightening the nut, that the inner axle nut DOES NOT MOVE. I use a visual reference point on the bearing and nut, like where a particular blob of greas sits in relation to the nut and assembly. If it moves, go back to the first step. otherwise, tighten the nut and cinch the washer (prefferably two different tabs than the original cinching) Cinch on TWO OPPOSITE SIDES.

Now you are ready to adjust your brakes (the axle is still out of the way, makes it easy!)

Then reinstall the axle, axle flange gasket (still available), cones and retaining nuts. DO NOT SUBSTITUTE regular nuts for the axle nuts they are supposed to bind (locknuts). and you can't use lockwashers on top of the retaining cones.


I hope this helped you,

Tom

[denisondc]

Sent: 7/11/2005

I agree with all said by slantsixnes. It is vital to repack those bearings, even though they will get their Long Term lubrication from the differential fluid. It takes many miles for that fluid to make its way out along the turning axle.
The service manual cautions; that you don’t want to have slack in the rear bearings, but you also don’t want the action of the outer nut being tightened onto the inner nut, to push the inner nut inward on its threads and preload the bearings. After I squeezed the grease out, I tightened the inner nut with my fingers, then backed it off a small amount â€" perhaps 1/10th of a turn, to where the locking ring mated to one of its holes. Then the locking ring, then the outer nut. I tightened the outer nut the same way I removed it: By tapping it around with my cold chisel until it seemed secure. I wasn’t the first one to use a cold chisel on that nut either.
Because of the weight of the drum/hub assembly, I didn’t have much success checking the amount of end play in my bearings. The hub rotated freely except for slight brake shoe drag, and it didn’t seem to wobble when I tried to lever it up and down with a 6ft 2 x 4. Its been okay for 12000 miles now; I might check them again this fall.
You need to check the differential fluid when you are finished, and replace the amount lost. Also, there is a breather somewhere on the rear axle that might need to be cleaned out. Mine was a hollow bolt that held the brake T to the axle. It was gummed up solid when I got my winny, and the heat from running had pushed differential fluid past the seals on the hubs.
I hope your rework of the brakes includes freeing up the self adjusters, and checking the handbrake operation. Unless your handbrake cable have already been replaced, they get stiff/sticky with old age and lack of use.
Instead of a new axle flange gasket, I used a very thin bead of RTV gasket maker.

[Slantsixness]

Sent: 7/11/2005

"Checking rear Hub end play"

This is how I do it:

Install only one rear wheel with only two lug nuts (more than two if you want to make more work for yourself) (this would be an "outer" wheel, with the offset facing inwards, although on the budd 5 or 6 lug you would want 3 lug nuts and would have to install one inner wheel instead)

The rig must be jacked up AT THE AXLE(not the frame) and secured. (minimum one jack stand and the jack...you should have had it on a jack stand for safety already...not that I always do, but I'm more concerned with YOUR safety since these rigs are heavy enough to cause catastrophic injuries, even death, from improper jacking practices).

Set a dial gauge to the edge of the axle flange on the hub side (the axle does NOT need to be installed, and makes the assembly lighter. The installed axle will also tend to give a false sense of 0 end play, so it's best if it is left out when checking.

Grab the bottom of the tire and pull forward and back and observe the end play. Then the Top, and the last Gut check is side to side. the dial gauge should never move, and if it does, you will feel the hub move too. (make sure your lug nuts are tight!)

There is probably no appreciable end play unless the bearings are bad or installed wrong anyway, but its a good gut check before you put the beast back on it's "feet".

The tire being installed gives you enough leverage and weight to check the end play properly.

Remember the Tire and rim are there for weight and leverage, not to check the endplay. Don't put the dial gauge on the rim or tire!!!

Easy!
You can check the front hubs the same way.

Be Safe, and remember to think about your safety.

OffTheSoapboxTom   

[Cooneytoones]

Sent: 7/11/2005

Yes Harold........ Tom hit  a home run on this one....If those procedures are not followed, you will end up sheering an axle....A shop that changed my bearings (won't admit it)   but, they did not follow this, and I drove approx. 17 miles,   when job was finished......left axle burned in 2.

Timmystillrigless

[HAL]

Sent: 7/25/2005

Thanks for the reply. I took the axle nut and went to napa auto parts and matched up the size. It was 2 9/16", it cost me $31.00 for the axle nut socket.
What I found when I had everything apart was the inter grease seal had not been installed correctly and all the bearing grease was spun out into the brakes and rims. I was lucky though. When I got the bearings clean they were ok. The races where ok all so, no burn marks,cracks, or wear marks.
I replaces the brake cylinder, brake shoes, and inter and outer grease seals. The hardest thing was getting the brake drum back on with out damaging the inter grease seal.
  THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION.
     HAL

[denisondc]

Sent: 7/25/2005

For anyone else who is removing the rear drums/hubs to work on their brakes - I used a piece of 2 by 10 about 2 ft long, supported right under the drum on wooden blocks, as a "runway" for sliding the drum/hub assembly off, and the same setup for when I slid/pushed the drum/hub back on. This was to prevent that grease seal from getting chewed up by the threads on the outside of the axle housing. This was easier than trying to hold a 50# item steady horizontally while guiding it gently onto something I couldn't see.

[SeaRaySRV16O]

Sent: 10/1/2005

OK, great info in this post. Thank you all for all the help. It sure is good to know others have been there ahead of me with the similar problems.

Got one question... My rear axle has six split conical inserts in each of the bolt holes. Are these re-useable or should they be discarded and replaced each time the axle is pulled? Thanks in advance.

Robert Donley
Jenison, MI

[denisondc]

Sent: 10/1/2005

The conical inserts are re-usable. They are actually split down one side; so make sure that little slot is clear. The cones squeeze down as you tighten the nuts onto the studs, and ensure the axle shaft is centered onto the hub.
Since the paper gasket came apart when I took my axle out, I used a thin coating of RTV rubber on the end of the hub, around the studs, to seal it. The differential fluid works its way out along the axle shaft, and a little reservoir for oil is formed at the end of the hub, by the axle shaft flange closing off the hub-end. If you dont seal up that joint you will always have differential fluid making the outside of your hub dirty.