How to Adjust Wheel Bearings

When you adjust wheel bearings, you will need to remove the bearings and re-pack it with bearing grease. Wheel bearings should be adjusted and repacked at 30,000-mile intervals to extend the life of the bearings. Usually the outer small wheel bearing is the one that wears the fastest since there is more force applied to it than the inner wheel bearing. Wheel bearings should be packed with wheel bearing grease only since it is high temperature grease and will not liquefy as easily as regular grease used in the suspension and steering linkage.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Lug wrench
• Floor jack
• Jack stand
• Short common screwdriver
• Hammer
• Wire cutters
• Large adjustable wrench or large adjustable pliers
• Cotter pins
• Set of 3/8-inch drive sockets
• 3/8-inch drive ratchet

1. Raise and support the vehicle with the jack stand. Remove the wheel. Remove the brake caliper and hang it up, so that there is no pressure on the brake hose. Remove the bearing cover with the short screwdriver and hammer.

2. Remove the cotter pin with the wire cutters. Remove the large spindle nut with the large pliers or wrench. Rock the rotor and remove the front wheel bearing and washer.

3. Install the large spindle nut a couple of threads and with a small amount of down pressure yank the rotor off of the spindle. The large spindle nut will grab and hold the rear inner wheel bearing and seal as the rotor is withdrawn. Pack both the inner and outer wheel bearings with high temp wheel bearing grease. Install the rear bearing in the rotor and tap the seal in with the hammer.

4. Remove the large spindle nut and install the rotor on the spindle. Install the front wheel bearing and then the lock washer and the spindle nut. Tighten the spindle nut with the large pliers until the nut just becomes tight. Rotate the rotor one turn and loosen the spindle nut 90 degrees and then tighten it again where it is too tight to remove by hand and tighten another 30 degrees. The object is to adjust the wheel bearings where there is no side movement or rocking of the rotor. You do not want to tighten them so tight that they are pressed into the race so hard as they can not expand as they get hot.

5. Install the castellated lock washer and the cotter pin. Install the bearing cover and the brake caliper and wheel.

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