Trailer hub bearing torque

[snailexpress]

Anyone help what is the torque for trailer hub bearing. Any redneck style technique to check?

[Rawze]

(02-11-2017 )snailexpress Wrote:  Anyone help what is the torque for trailer hub bearing. Any redneck style technique to check?

depends on style of hub bearing, hub and if it is sleeved or not.

most will have you first torque them to about 250 ft-lbs then back em off again so they seat properly. After that ...

sleeved is typically about 215-ft lbs. non-sleeved is typically 50-75 ft-lbs. it all depends on the brand too. you can usually find a manual for whatever axles you have and look it up.

Never had to adjust trailer myself, only my truck so maybe others who do this can elaborate on what they do too eh?

[stevesparts]

call a trailer place and tell them what trl you got and get the right spec for it.. they all have there own set of spec. they like to say there different that brand x or z.
and like Rawze said on hub/bearing type..just to many differences

[Hammerhead]

With the two thin nut system (the vast majority of non spacered axles/two tapered bearings with no spacer cone), this is my procedure:
-coat bearings & axle threads with oil
-tighten inner nut with a 18-24" long handled ratchet tight as I can
-rotate wheel 1-1.5 turns
-retighten as tight as I can
-back off 1/4 turn
-install locking plates
-install outer jam nut
-tighten as hard as I can
-rotate 1-1.5 turns
-retighten as tight as I can
-verify wheel spins without excessive bearing end play
-bend lock tabs into place
That's roadside, parking lot, God knows where procedure. At the shop I verify end play with dial indicator to between 0.001-0.003"
Did it that way for 20years.

[Magard]

All the ones I ever did. After making sure the races are bottomed out I tightened them up to where I could feel good drag from the bearing being to tight. To set the seal on the axle. Then I would loosen it and put a little pre load back on it. I don't have a torque spec. More of a feel. I would guess it would feel right at like 35 ft. Pounds. On the inner nut. And find the spot to put the locking ring on with about the preload I wanted. Careful not to have to much preload. Torque the shi#t out of the outside nut. I'm sure there's a spec for the outside nut but I would guess 100 or allittle more. Most of my equipment is old so I'm not sure on sleeved. If you have to much preload it will destroy the bearings. Sleeve would be there to keep the preload from being to tight. I've done a lot of old school trailer hubs this way and I never actually torqued one. If the bearings and races are wore it will seem fine when you put it together and then the wheel seal will leak and you'll think you did something wrong. But you pull it apart and everything seems fine. If your having wheel seal trouble go ahead and change the bearings to and it should stop the problem unless there's wear on your spindle. This is the redneck method. It's served me well. But I learned it from watching so it's hard to type it out. Right...

P. S. the lock ring I'm talking about has holes that you line up with a bump or nob on the outside of the inner nut. You can turn the lock ring over if it's way off it, will change the way it indexes. I also oil the bearings before I start together with it. Just for good measure.

[Hammerhead]

I say "Did it that way for 20 years" because I no longer use a two nut system.
I have thrown every single two nut set away I touch.
They are an antiquated system that is no longer relevant as far as I'm concerned.
I advocate for, and recommend to everybody who listens or not to throw them in the garbage and opt for the Stemco Pro-Torq wheel nuts instead.
The repeatability of end play of these wheel nuts is incredible.
I replaced every single wheel seal & installed Pr-Torq's years ago.
I set them at 0.002". Not close, every single one was set at 0.002"!
I have 12 trailer hubs. I then went and loaded ugly as shi#t off the Houston docks.
At 187,000lbs, in over 110* temps on the very first load after I switched, I stopped 3hrs down the road to do a chain check and with my infrared thermometer, all 12 hubs were within 12*f! (It was less, but we'll go with that)
With that load every axle exceeded 20,000lbs. That's over 10,000lbs per hub!
That is repeatability!

I'm not a salesman, and I get absolutely nothing for recommending them. As firm as Rawze is about new ISX heads over reman, I am just as adamant about Pro-Torq's.
They will absolutely pay for themselves in time and provide a profit with tire wear, fuel economy, and reduced maintenance costs. The best part is, one socket. Yup, you can pack one socket and do your own instead of multiple sizes of sockets (with your own trailer of course).

The procedure for Pro-Torq's is stupid simple.
-lube bearings and threads with oil
-torque to 200 ft/lbs
-rotate hub 360*
-torque to 200 ft/lbs
-rotate hub 360*
-back off nut to finger tight
-torque to 100ft/lbs
-rotate hub 360*
-torque to 100 ft/lbs
-rotate 360*
-back off 1/8 turn
-install locking tab/ring
-verify end play
It will be 0.0015"
http://www.stemco.com/f/qbin/Pro-Torq_Literature.pdf

[snailexpress]

Thank you all guys. What a great thing forum is. Thanks Rawze.
Tomorrow will look for hubs ID#, the tandem is not original. The nut is 8-4 3/4 inch locking by snap ring retainer. definitely it is in bad shape can't my hands create any torque mentioned in posts.

[Magard]

I've never seen a snap ring retainer. I would have to re-evaluate my redneck methods for that one. My method may not apply at all to that one.

[snailexpress]

(02-12-2017 )Magard Wrote:  I've never seen a snap ring retainer. I would have to re-evaluate my redneck methods for that one. My method may not apply at all to that one.

Pro Torque nut with keeper lock.