Wheel bearing set up

[ackland3]

Okay went to do wheel bearings due to a hum/random grinding noise and found one outside one had busted and took out my spindle washer along with it so regreased and replaced that checked the inner one (all of these are less than 1k old) it looked good so regreased it did the same on the other side. did torque on the inner nut according to chilton which says 50lbs then back it off 1/4 turn then 35 lbs then back it off 3/8 turn but when i backed it off there was play so I hand tightened it so there was no play then got the washer on and tightened the outer nut down as much as possible. DID I DO IT RIGHT?

[Captkaos]

You did it right up to where you tightened the nut down tight the last time.

[ackland3]

What do you mean?

[Captkaos]

on and tightened the outer nut down as much as possible

Were you doing the preload without the washer on there?  You only need tighten it up enough to get the cotter pin on.

[Jason S]

Ackland3,

Is this is on the '85 K10 in your signature?

The procedure you described in first post is pretty much how I've always done it on my 4x4's. Once the bearings are seated correctly and the washer indexed into the first nut, I torque the outer nut down rather tightly.

[ackland3]

Yes the vehicle is the 85 k10 it must have just been defective bearings from the parts house to say the least i don't think i'm welcome at autozone anymore!

[Blazin]

Sounds correct to me too. Packed them well?

I bought a K30 cab & chassis once from a guy. He said it had brand new wheel bearings. The day I picked it up he mentioned that he had put new inner & outer wheel bearings in it 4 times in the last 6 or 7 months. That this truck eats wheel bearings, he couldn't keep them in it. I had known this guy somewhat since we was kids. Lets just say he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I got it home, first thing I did was pull the bearings. There was no grease inside the bearings. He had just rubbed grease over the outside of them. They were all scored up. I replaced them with new fully packed bearings. Never had a wheel bearing problem after that. I did however find many other things that he had cavemaned!

[ehjorten]

Don't forget to pack the hub in-between the bearings with grease also!  I will go through one of those 1 lb. cans of grease from the auto store on each end!  About 1/2 a can per wheel.

[ackland3]

I shoved quite a bit of grease in the hub too along with plenty on the spindle made sure plenty was packed in the bearings themselves. I'm pretty sure after the chewing i gave autozone i'm not welcome there anymore haha