What holds the rotor/hub in place on the front end?

So I let my little brother borrow my Xterra at college for a few weeks because he had a fraternity retreat to Uhwarrie...but it has complained of it making a clunking noise while driving...

We find now that with jacking the car up so the front passenger tire is off the ground, you can grab the tire and the entire hub/rotor wobbles around. So, for those that know more about the front hub assembly, what actually fixes the position of the rotor/hub? Is there anything else?

I know the anatomy of the front wheel bearing: http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/howto/bearing/bearing.htm

Is it the wheel bearing lock nut that ultimately holds the rotor and hub in place? I have recently replaced my stock auto locking hubs with Mile Marker manual hubs, and replaced both CV axles last January. I have never replaced rotors or re-packed wheel bearings (that was on this Winter's maintenance list...) When replacing the CV axles, I used the hub nut socket tool, and torqued per the tutorial above.

Is this a blown wheel bearing? The tire and hub spin freely when raised off the ground, but it is just VERY loosey goosey. Do I just need to re-torque the wheel bearing lock nut? Maybe the bearings weren't ever seated properly, and thus gave me a false torque reading?

If you don't use the proper Nissan hub socket you will be battling this for ever.. The wheel bearings start to seal more and this causes the hub to flop around on the spindle.

You will need to re tighten these before driving it more.. And you can re tighten till you find the proper socket..

I know on the auto locking hubs, there was a snap ring behind the fixed cam assembly. That gets removed for the manual hubs, so no snap ring, correct? It should just be Remove hub-->Washer with 2 phillips --> Wheel bearing locking nut

I have the proper socket...unfortunately, my brother has the Xterra a few hours from me. If he took a punch and a hammer to tighten it up some, would that work for the time being? I have seen some people on here/clubx say the hammer and punch method works fine...

I thought it was the lock nut, but just didn't know if something else could be seriously damaged. The wheel still spins fine and clean without binding, so I am assuming the bearing is good.

robcarync said:

I know on the auto locking hubs, there was a snap ring behind the fixed cam assembly. That gets removed for the manual hubs, so no snap ring, correct? It should just be Remove hub-->Washer with 2 phillips --> Wheel bearing locking nut

I have the proper socket...unfortunately, my brother has the Xterra a few hours from me. If he just took a punch and a hammer to tighten it up some, that should be good enough to make a 3 hour road trip home, right?

I thought it was the lock nut, but just didn't know if something else could be seriously damaged. The wheel still spins fine and clean without binding, so I am assuming the bearing is good.

Click to expand...

Lord no!
If it's as bad as your claiming I wouldn't drive it at all..

A you need the clip put back it.. That's a safety feature...

Fix this right before some one gets hurt

If there is a little play it's the wheel bearing... If there is a lot of play that could be ball joints and/or tie rods... When it's jacked up does the whee move left to right? Or up and down?

Have it taken in to get fixed or parts replaced.

Sent from a Galaxy S4
FAR, FAR AWAY!!
Instagram: BriarFiend_rattfink

And even with manual hubs the snap ring should still be on the cv...but that shouldn't cause this...

The hub but not being right would

if the entire rotor is physically moving something is really wrong.... It shouldn't have any play in it... Hell the caliper should keep it in place

When mine was loose I could shake the tire and it would mive

These are the best instructions for wheel bearings
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/howto/bearing/bearing.htm

I had one of my front bearings get loose a couple of weeks ago. I usually tighten them by feel...based on how the disc would spin after tightening, then backing off a "hole" on the lock washer. Anyway...I guess my feel method failed on the last re-pack. The bearing started to spin on the spindle at higher speeds. It happened two times on the way home from work, I just slowed down to free it up then tightened it up after I got home. Luckily no heat marks on either the bearing or the spindle. I have new bearings and races on order. My only experience with a loose bearing/locknut caused the bearing to spin on the spindle causing a sudden whirring/vibration. Anyone else have a different result to a loose bearing/locknut?

Ocala X said:

I had one of my front bearings get loose a couple of weeks ago. I usually tighten them by feel...based on how the disc would spin after tightening, then backing off a "hole" on the lock washer. Anyway...I guess my feel method failed on the last re-pack. The bearing started to spin on the spindle at higher speeds. It happened two times on the way home from work, I just slowed down to free it up then tightened it up after I got home. Luckily no heat marks on either the bearing or the spindle. I have new bearings and races on order. My only experience with a loose bearing/locknut caused the bearing to spin on the spindle causing a sudden whirring/vibration. Anyone else have a different result to a loose bearing/locknut?

Click to expand...

Add a torque wrench to your routine.

You can make a 1/2 ton four prong hub socket fit by using a grinder. it is a bstter option than a punch and hammer and most parts stores have then in stock.

I've never used a torque wrench, ever. With the socket, tighten the adjuster nut snug, while spinning the rotor. You have to spin the rotor while tightening the adjuster nut or you'll be ramrodding the bearing into place while scraping against the race. Always spin the rotor while the rotor and tighten at the same time.

Now, get it snug. Just a little snug. Stop. Now grab the rotor and yank it back and forth. Not around, spinning on the bearing, but yank it toward you, like you're trying to rip it off the spindle. Did it move? Is there any slop? If so, snug up the bearing a little more. Not even a quarter turn, maybe 1/16 of a turn. Is it still snug or is it getting tight? If it's still just snug and you're not leaning on the socket to tighten it, good. If you're having to lean on the socket a hair to get it to go little more, then your bearings/races need inspecting as you may have a lip on the race.

Now, since that last little snugging up, yank on that rotor again. Did the slop go away? If it did, then put on the lock ring. Did any of the screw holes line up? No? Oh, flip the lock ring over. Yeah, the holes are offset, so flipping it over will give you the holes in a different spot. Did the holes line up now? Still no? Then figure out which side of the lock ring the holes would line up the screw holes if you tighten the adjuster ring a little bit. Yeah, I said tighten, not loosen. Bearings need pre-load, not freeload. They're there to work, not just sit there, so they need pre-load on them. The one thing I see too much on front ends is loose bearings from DIY guys that have been doing it that way for decades.

I can tell you I've replaced exactly one set of Nissan D21/WD22 bearings. Only 1 set, in my entire career. Use this procedure and you won't have any issues.

Now, with that being said, you've already driven this thing with the bearings extremely loose. Take them out, look at them, carefully, and see if there's any pitting or if they've turned blue. If so, then you'll have to replace them.

The c-clip on the shaft is for end-play at the end of the cv shaft. On the inside of the shaft, where it goes into the spindle, there's a copper/brass shim. One side of it has a bevel, the bevel goes towards the cv joint. The shaft then goes into the spindle, and as it comes out of the hub side, there will be a special washer and the c-clip. These must be there. No, they don't hold the wheel on. But they do keep the cv joint from walking back and forth and possibly binding in a turn.

If you're taking the cv shaft out for any reason, look inside the spindle hole. See that little thing in there that looks like a bearing? Well, it's a bearing. Who knew?! Grease it up. You might have to clean it out, brake cleaner and compressed air work great. Get it clean enough that it will spin freely, with very little effort. Then shove a bunch of grease in there with your fingers and spin it. Keep greasing it and spinning it around until it's packed with grease. This will make sure that the cv shaft will spin inside the spindle freely. Then grease up the copper/brass washer, on both sides, grease up the special washer and then put grease on the c-clip too. Grease it all! Now put your hub on. I'm assuming it's been greased too, right? Smooth engagement and disengagement? Good.

Now, every time you submerge the front end, with the tires/hubs under water, you know what you need to do? Yeah, grease it up again. And check your diff fluid.

The bearing adjuster holds your hub to your spindle via the bearings.

Thanks for the input guys. I won't be taking the Xterra to a shop to get fixed...if anything I will see if my brother can fix it (he's pretty mechanically inclined), or I will be road tripping to visit him Saturday to help him fix it so I can bring it back to my house.

For clarification, I have seen the wheel bearing how-to (included in first post). When I replaced the CV axles, I followed the torquing procedure exactly and I have the special socket. The listed torque is only about 1 foot pound...NOT A LOT OF TORQUE AT ALL! I have had no issues since I did this (January). August, I replaced the auto hubs with Mile Markers, and it looks like the mistake I made was I did not keep the circlip on the CV axle...I thought those were for the fixed cam assembly on the auto lockers only. I can get those replaced without an issue.

As far as other things: I have recently replaced:

All tie rod ends
center link
upper ball joints

All in all, it looks like the wheel bearing lock nut, as I suggested. The bearings have been loose since then, but only in the last few days. I let my brother borrow it and he drove it 3 hours to school, and it just started making the front end noise a few days ago (he's had it for 2 weeks already). My guess is that it never backed out on me because I don't drive it much, and maybe the vibration from him driving it more often is what let it loosen up. The Xterra is parked right now until we get this taken care of.

Cyclemut said:

I've never used a torque wrench, ever. With the socket, tighten the adjuster nut snug, while spinning the rotor. You have to spin the rotor while tightening the adjuster nut or you'll be ramrodding the bearing into place while scraping against the race. Always spin the rotor while the rotor and tighten at the same time.

Now, get it snug. Just a little snug. Stop. Now grab the rotor and yank it back and forth. Not around, spinning on the bearing, but yank it toward you, like you're trying to rip it off the spindle. Did it move? Is there any slop? If so, snug up the bearing a little more. Not even a quarter turn, maybe 1/16 of a turn. Is it still snug or is it getting tight? If it's still just snug and you're not leaning on the socket to tighten it, good. If you're having to lean on the socket a hair to get it to go little more, then your bearings/races need inspecting as you may have a lip on the race.

Now, since that last little snugging up, yank on that rotor again. Did the slop go away? If it did, then put on the lock ring. Did any of the screw holes line up? No? Oh, flip the lock ring over. Yeah, the holes are offset, so flipping it over will give you the holes in a different spot. Did the holes line up now? Still no? Then figure out which side of the lock ring the holes would line up the screw holes if you tighten the adjuster ring a little bit. Yeah, I said tighten, not loosen. Bearings need pre-load, not freeload. They're there to work, not just sit there, so they need pre-load on them. The one thing I see too much on front ends is loose bearings from DIY guys that have been doing it that way for decades.

I can tell you I've replaced exactly one set of Nissan D21/WD22 bearings. Only 1 set, in my entire career. Use this procedure and you won't have any issues.

Now, with that being said, you've already driven this thing with the bearings extremely loose. Take them out, look at them, carefully, and see if there's any pitting or if they've turned blue. If so, then you'll have to replace them.

The c-clip on the shaft is for end-play at the end of the cv shaft. On the inside of the shaft, where it goes into the spindle, there's a copper/brass shim. One side of it has a bevel, the bevel goes towards the cv joint. The shaft then goes into the spindle, and as it comes out of the hub side, there will be a special washer and the c-clip. These must be there. No, they don't hold the wheel on. But they do keep the cv joint from walking back and forth and possibly binding in a turn.

If you're taking the cv shaft out for any reason, look inside the spindle hole. See that little thing in there that looks like a bearing? Well, it's a bearing. Who knew?! Grease it up. You might have to clean it out, brake cleaner and compressed air work great. Get it clean enough that it will spin freely, with very little effort. Then shove a bunch of grease in there with your fingers and spin it. Keep greasing it and spinning it around until it's packed with grease. This will make sure that the cv shaft will spin inside the spindle freely. Then grease up the copper/brass washer, on both sides, grease up the special washer and then put grease on the c-clip too. Grease it all! Now put your hub on. I'm assuming it's been greased too, right? Smooth engagement and disengagement? Good.

Now, every time you submerge the front end, with the tires/hubs under water, you know what you need to do? Yeah, grease it up again. And check your diff fluid.

The bearing adjuster holds your hub to your spindle via the bearings.

Click to expand...

LOL

You have a lot of faith in the subjective interpretation of terms like "snug" for inexperienced mechanics...YOU can no doubt do it by feel, as you understand the physics involved in what you are trying to accomplish, its so straight forward to you, there's no need for a torque wrench, but,...an inexperienced person asking the questions is less likely to be successful, and might get lucky, or, unlucky, with the final product...whereas there are torque figures, and, using them should not harm anything. The reason for the tightening/loosening routine, etc...is new to many people, and, how tight/how loose, etc...can be misinterpreted.

For the record, I understand the physics behind it fully...and I 100% followed the torque, backing off, re-torquing procedure in the FSM using a torque wrench and the special hub socket...and I am still having a loose wheel bearing.

Only thing incorrect on my set up is a missing snap ring, which may or may not be the cause of this. That is why the other part of the question is if there is anything else holding this thing together, or maybe I just need to torque it more than the 1 foot pound spec.

It's a wheel bearing trust me.. It took months for mine to do this...

Well TJ, if someone that wants to play mechanic doesn't know what snug is, then they need to give their Home Depot socket set away and never touch anything mechanical again.

People don't understand what they're playing with. Wheel bearings? Oh that's easy enough, right? Apparently not. This guy is an ME, which I'm currently in school for, but I have one thing he doesn't, over 2 decades of actually being a mechanic. I know first hand how tab A fits into slot B, and not because I read it in a book.

Look, these are 2 ton pieces of steel that we're hurtling through space at 65-70mph, and we're not the only ones on the road! If someone wants to replace their stereo speakers, have at it. Want to put in a set of Sylvania headlight bulbs, you go dude. But if someone supposedly followed the FSM, but still can't manage to put all the parts back in, and is actually asking WHAT HOLDS THE HUB ON, then I don't want to be on the same road as them! I don't care if your brother is mechanically inclined, I don't care that you got your ME with a 4.0 and breezed through Stats and Probabilities, you shouldn't be touching vital and critical areas of your truck if you can't follow the FSM or know what holds the damn thing on.

Don't fix it yourself, don't take it apart, don't even take it home. Take it to a shop and have someone fix it.

Hand holding time is over when you're endangering the public. As an ME, you're ethically obliged to know when you're over your head. Booster rocket O-ring anyone?

Cyclemut said:

Well TJ, if someone that wants to play mechanic doesn't know what snug is, then they need to give their Home Depot socket set away and never touch anything mechanical again.

People don't understand what they're playing with. Wheel bearings? Oh that's easy enough, right? Apparently not. This guy is an ME, which I'm currently in school for, but I have one thing he doesn't, over 2 decades of actually being a mechanic. I know first hand how tab A fits into slot B, and not because I read it in a book.

Look, these are 2 ton pieces of steel that we're hurtling through space at 65-70mph, and we're not the only ones on the road! If someone wants to replace their stereo speakers, have at it. Want to put in a set of Sylvania headlight bulbs, you go dude. But if someone supposedly followed the FSM, but still can't manage to put all the parts back in, and is actually asking WHAT HOLDS THE HUB ON, then I don't want to be on the same road as them! I don't care if your brother is mechanically inclined, I don't care that you got your ME with a 4.0 and breezed through Stats and Probabilities, you shouldn't be touching vital and critical areas of your truck if you can't follow the FSM or know what holds the damn thing on.

Don't fix it yourself, don't take it apart, don't even take it home. Take it to a shop and have someone fix it.

Hand holding time is over when you're endangering the public. As an ME, you're ethically obliged to know when you're over your head. Booster rocket O-ring anyone?

Click to expand...

LOL


Too true.


To develop that feel though takes at least some real world experience...and that means there must be a minimum of one time winging it...on that, or enough similar examples to get a feel for it.

When you replaced the bearings did you also replace the race, or even check the condition of it? And also when replacing the axles you do not have to touch the pre-load on the bearings in any way, and the c-clip has nothing to do with it either. Logically speaking, if the FSM was followed 100% than there is something else wrong like the race is worn, and or that the bearings are worn.

This is one of the safety things, like asking if it is ok to drive with a broken leaf until you find a new one in a few weeks, or telling yourself that you can re-pack an air bag. The fact that this is a 15-20 min job and has streatched out into a two day discussion tells me that there is something else going on, and it should be addressed by a qualified mechanic.

Cyclemut said:

Well TJ, if someone that wants to play mechanic doesn't know what snug is, then they need to give their Home Depot socket set away and never touch anything mechanical again.

People don't understand what they're playing with. Wheel bearings? Oh that's easy enough, right? Apparently not. This guy is an ME, which I'm currently in school for, but I have one thing he doesn't, over 2 decades of actually being a mechanic. I know first hand how tab A fits into slot B, and not because I read it in a book.

Look, these are 2 ton pieces of steel that we're hurtling through space at 65-70mph, and we're not the only ones on the road! If someone wants to replace their stereo speakers, have at it. Want to put in a set of Sylvania headlight bulbs, you go dude. But if someone supposedly followed the FSM, but still can't manage to put all the parts back in, and is actually asking WHAT HOLDS THE HUB ON, then I don't want to be on the same road as them! I don't care if your brother is mechanically inclined, I don't care that you got your ME with a 4.0 and breezed through Stats and Probabilities, you shouldn't be touching vital and critical areas of your truck if you can't follow the FSM or know what holds the damn thing on.

Don't fix it yourself, don't take it apart, don't even take it home. Take it to a shop and have someone fix it.

Hand holding time is over when you're endangering the public. As an ME, you're ethically obliged to know when you're over your head. Booster rocket O-ring anyone?

Click to expand...

First off, I fully appreciate your concern for safety. I agree 100%. I just disagree with your assessment that I don't know what I am doing...or that I am being unsafe (since, I mean, the truck is parked, and is not even being driven...) I asked about the hammer and punch method specifically because I have read on clubx that people have done that with no problem, and since drbandkgb specifically said I could tighten it until I get the proper socket. So, if I can tighten it until the proper socket is obtained, how should I tighten it? The current plan is to park it until the socket is obtained.

The question of what holds the hub on was vastly over simplified for the thread title...to be direct and to the point. Perhaps I did not elaborate enough to explain that I knew the wheel bearing lock nut secures the hub and bearings, but the question was more so if there was anything else that could be causing this that I am missing. I was even more so curious because I know I followed the torquing procedure per the FSM, so would not have expected it to loosen, since I had the right tools, and followed the right procedure. That is why I was asking if I simply need to re-torque it, or if it could be an issue with the bearings seating (losing the original torque I applied). Obviously, you guys aren't there either, so I am asking for others experiences here as to if a wheel bearing becoming loose is a sign of other damage, or is it common for the nut to back off? Is there anything else that secures it that I'm not thinking of?

I have no degree in English, so perhaps I didn't explain myself enough.

That is great that you have 2 decades of mechanic experience, which I certainly respect. Matter of fact, it is why I post questions because there are people that have done this longer than I have. I don't claim to know everything, but to suggest that I don't know anything just because I design the toys you play with (oh, and get to build them in proto type shops too...because you know, engineers turn wrenches too) is extremely rude and condescending. Matter of factually, your stereotypes about engineers are comical to me as an engineer that turns wrenches.

Also, statistics and probabilities are freshman level general education requirements...not even engineering courses. You will find that out when you finally finish your degree.

Lastly, I feel comfortable re-torquing my wheel bearings, but not because of my multiple engineering degrees. I feel comfortable re-torquing my wheel bearings, but not because of my career working with heavy machinery and techs on a daily basis. I feel comfortable re-torquing my wheel bearings, but not because of my experience working in automotive manufacturing. I feel comfortable re-torquing my wheel bearings, but not because of a 10 year old grade on my report card.

It is because I have worked on cars, and have turned wrenches since my early teens. It is because I know all of the other automotive projects and work I have done successfully, HANDS ON. That is it. At less than 30 years of age, I can't numerically have 2 decades of being a mechanic...but I have taken on numerous automotive projects and repair jobs more difficult than this.

granitex said:

When you replaced the bearings did you also replace the race, or even check the condition of it? And also when replacing the axles you do not have to touch the pre-load on the bearings in any way, and the c-clip has nothing to do with it either. Logically speaking, if the FSM was followed 100% than there is something else wrong like the race is worn, and or that the bearings are worn.

This is one of the safety things, like asking if it is ok to drive with a broken leaf until you find a new one in a few weeks, or telling yourself that you can re-pack an air bag. The fact that this is a 15-20 min job and has streatched out into a two day discussion tells me that there is something else going on, and it should be addressed by a qualified mechanic.

Click to expand...

I did not replace the bearings...that was on my list of things to do this winter. When I replaced the axle, I probably should have thought it through a little more, because the how to I used showed taking the bearing lock nut off (it was a comprehensive front end re-build). Not necessary for just CVs, as I know now. Nothing looked bad or drove bad, but I never removed the bearings... just the lock nut, and just slid the old CV out and popped the new one in, and reassembled the bearing lock nut. This was with factory hubs and snap ring was installed along with fixed cam assembly, etc.

That being said, removing the lock nut may have been un-needed, but I still used the proper socket and a torque wrench, and followed the torquing procedure per the instructions.

For those interested in analyzing what I did wrong, the FSM did not have a tutorial for if the snap ring stays on the CV when installing after market hubs. I missed the snap ring because I mistakenly thought it was meant to retain the fixed cam assembly on the CV, and not maintaining CV end play. That is a 3 minute fix and being addressed.

Everything else was done per the FSM, and I did not miss any parts.

Again there is no need to touch the bearings when replacing the front axles, the stub slips out the back of the hub assembly. Weather you have auto locking hubs or manual it does not matter, they still work the same way.

The fact that you're still comfortable with retorquing those same bearings, and driving it, tells me that you should absolutely quit working on it. If you have the experience that you claim to have, then it wouldn't have gibe bad to begin with. There's nothing different between adjusting these wheel bearings than there is adjusting the bearings on an old Chevy truck. The lock plate is different, that's all.

As far as the bearing actually coming loose to point that it has means one of two things. That you either didn't follow the FSM, like you claimed you did, or the lock plate flat out sheared away.

If you're familiar with how the lock plate goes on, then you know that there is zero physical way for it to come loose and allow the bearings to get that loose. Zero way, unless you did something wrong.

Either way, take it to a competent mechanic and have them look at it and repair it.

Funny how you state Stats and Probabilities is a freshman class. I guess engineering only schools have a higher requirement for these things. I'll take Colorado School of Mines' curriculum over any state college.

Yes, my view of engineers hasn't changed a bit. If anything, my resolve has only been bolstered. You're not a wrench, whatever experience you think you have should have put you past this issue without a second thought. So take my advice, have an actual pro fix it! If you do the same thing again, expecting different results, you may not get the results you're looking for. If the lock plate sheared, then you have larger issues than you're prepared to remedy in your driveway/garage.

Being a ME, with a full degree that knows how to do mechanical work. I find this conversation very interesting. I went to a very respectable engineering school. I have to say of my graduating class of ~400 ME's. There are probably 5% I would trust working on a vehicle with me. There were probably 30% I would trust designing something that should keep me safe. and maybe 1% that could do both. There is a huge problem in any industry between the Engineering staff and the "Mechanical" or hands on staff. Things that work in the one world don't work in the other, and things good enough in the other are not refined enough for the first. Now I have never replaced a first gen bearing. But there are not a lot of parts that could be causing this. On top of that there is only one part that could cause this where you would not physically see stuff move when moving the tire.

I don't know if you need to bring it into a mechanic or not to get it fixed. If you take it back apart and still can't figure out what is wrong please bring it to a mechanic for the safety of others. If you take it back apart and go ohh **** I forgot that then fix it.

On the note of the wheel bearing being messed with when doing the front half shaft. The first time I take stuff apart I usually take it further apart then I need to since I don't like instructions. Then I refine the process for the next time.

metzican said:

Being a ME, with a full degree that knows how to do mechanical work. I find this conversation very interesting. I went to a very respectable engineering school. I have to say of my graduating class of ~400 ME's. There are probably 5% I would trust working on a vehicle with me. There were probably 30% I would trust designing something that should keep me safe. and maybe 1% that could do both. There is a huge problem in any industry between the Engineering staff and the "Mechanical" or hands on staff. Things that work in the one world don't work in the other, and things good enough in the other are not refined enough for the first. Now I have never replaced a first gen bearing. But there are not a lot of parts that could be causing this. On top of that there is only one part that could cause this where you would not physically see stuff move when moving the tire.

I don't know if you need to bring it into a mechanic or not to get it fixed. If you take it back apart and still can't figure out what is wrong please bring it to a mechanic for the safety of others. If you take it back apart and go ohh **** I forgot that then fix it.

On the note of the wheel bearing being messed with when doing the front half shaft. The first time I take stuff apart I usually take it further apart then I need to since I don't like instructions. Then I refine the process for the next time.

Click to expand...

Its that book learning vs knowledge vs wisdom vs experience thing.

I appreciate the concern for safety here...and I realized I asked a dumbed down question, but this is getting over blown majorly. I phrased it that way intentionally, but that was not my literal question. I know this is the internet so you don't know me, so all you have to go off of is this stupid thread. Maybe I felt too comfortable at XN to fully explain myself and try and make myself look smarter, as I wasn't planning on having to actually defend my decision to fix this myself. All I was looking for was confirmation that the lock nut would be the prime suspect to check out.

I immediately thought something was up with the wheel bearing and lock nut...from what I remembered how it went together a year ago that I touched the thing. I didn't have the truck, so I was relaying information from my brother. I couldn't look at it to double check myself, or see what else could be restraining the motion, which is why I asked here. Part of it was me being a bit "excited" about my X being down 3 hours from home, and I was not thinking things through. I also asked about if the lock nut can back out (because I didn't think so due to the locking plate), and if the bearings can continue to seat inward, IE losing the torque from the nut.

Seeing as it has been almost a year with NO play in the wheel bearing since I last touched them, something has changed.

For those of you interested, my brother re-torqued the wheel bearing lock nut. He test drove it in his parking lot, and it was still making a grinding noise, but some of the play went away. He took it to a mechanic, who wanted 300 to replace a single outer wheel bearing. They inspected and said the bearings had some play, but it was not unsafe to drive in his opinion, but it would wear the tires out faster and ride quality would be worse.

I don't trust that opinion more than my own...which is why I rented a U-Haul car carrier trailer, picked it up, and trailered it back to my house. It is in my garage awaiting a tear down, where it belongs. If this had happened to me, in my town, this thread would not have been created, because I would have already had it apart.

For the record, I not once used my education as a reason for why I can do this. I have done several DIY automotive projects, and that alone is why I feel comfortable doing this. I never once claimed to be an application expert. I learn specific applications as I go, and I have never driven an old Chevy truck either. I have never had the wheel bearings out before, so I did not know exactly off the top of my head how everything went together. That doesn't mean I lack the ability to look at it and confirm my suspicions. Only problem is I wasn't there to look at it, so I asked. The X is in my garage now, so I will take it from here. Thanks.




Lastly, Colorado School of the Mines is a state funded public university.

Well, this escalated quickly. Not sure what crawled up cyclemuts butt that he turned it into a personal attack, but it was a bit uncalled for. Particularly coming from a moderator.

sounds like maybe the bearing is just dry. you can try just pulling the bearing and re packing it and see if that fixes it. I would probably do both sides. plan on maybe replacing both bearings and the seals. I used a bearing packer from oriely's and used a big c clamp to compress it and force the clean grease in. took a couple of minutes per bearing. after you get it all back together drive it a bit and jack it up and make sure there is no play. It didnt have the locknut tool when I did mine, and it took me forever with a hammer and punch tool to get it right. with the locknut tool you should be able to get it right the first time, but I personally check everything a couple of times just to be safe.

What crawled up my butt is the safety of the travelling public. They're put into danger by anyone that thinks owning a set of tools and being able to replace a light switch in their living room is able to work on every aspect of their vehicle without consequences.

I've talked people through just about every aspect of repair on their Xterras/Frontiers/Pathfinders/Maximas/Altimas/Sentras and even an Xtrail or two. From all over the country and even in a couple of different countries around the globe. I have a new friend in New Zealand because I helped his mechanic get a parts CD so he could find which part numbers to have their local shop order (Frontiers over there are different than here, USDM stuff is about as rare as working on a KPGC10 here). Am I bragging a little bit? Yeah, I am. In my previous life I used to be someone. That was a while ago.

Mechanics are similar to Engineers in a couple of ways. You know what's different between a Mechanic/Engineer and a Doctor? Doctors can only kill one person at a time!

We're responsible for the vehicles that we put on the road. If I put a wheel on a '67 911 and set that guy down the road and I've over torqued the aluminum lug nuts, letting the wheel fall off down the road, what happens? Dollars to donuts I won't be able to go rent a U-Haul and pick it up to fix it. The chances of a major accident, at speed (because lets face it, I don't drive cars like that slow), with someone expiring is highly likely.

So when you want to play mechanic and mess with your wheel bearings, know what the hell you're doing. If you don't, man up and pay someone that does. Because if that wheel comes off and hits my niece in her 2.5GT, and she doesn't just walk away unscathed, well, let your imagination run wild. See? And if someone were to play mechanic and replace their entire steering, do a SAS on their Xterra and not know how to PROPERLY weld, and something happens to your wife, your kid or even to you, what would YOU do? Meekly suggest that they do it again, but perhaps look up a DIY on the 'net? I doubt it.

We think of these 2 ton projectiles as our secret haven, our own little space and no one, no man or woman, can tell us what to do. You are the Captain of your domain. Especially when you've put a lot of blood, sweat and beer into it. So how dare someone in some other state tell you what to do, how to do it or even that you're not qualified to perform the repairs that you KNOW you can do. Right?

Well, I am. I'm doing it. I'm a lot more qualified that just about anyone on this site and many other sites. I have a bit of a big head, I admit it, but you don't see me on here much any more. I'm tired of the "I have a bigger pecker than you do" just because you happen to own that particular vehicle or have a lot more credit card debt than I do. But when I see something so wrong, so blatantly incorrect that I feel that I have to say something or someone is going to get hurt, I MUST say something! I believe in doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the consequence. I don't care that you or everyone else on here thinks I'm wrong, thinks I'm an arse or if I lose any friendships over this. The right thing to do was to tell the OP to stop and take it somewhere that can properly fix it before something bad happens. So I did.

That's what crawled up by butt.

And I pay $1500 PER CREDIT HOUR for my "state funded college". I have over $60k in loans right now, and I'm just now a Junior. I don't get grants either, I'm the wrong color, wrong sex, wrong race. Middle aged white males aren't exactly welcomed at colleges any more. I'd put my education up against MIT and Cal-anything. I turned down MIT after getting accepted, I couldn't leave Colorado after all. Again, not really to brag (a lot), but to brag a little. I'm not exactly stupid or inexperienced.

And if this thread is ever looked at by an attorney, if a wheel were to fall off and hurt someone? I heard one makes 25cents a day in prison. Is that true?

And that, boys and girls is, as they say, that. To recap:
- Robcarync asked a question in a way, somewhat facetiously, that warranted a "are you sure you know what you are doing?" response from Cyclemut. Cyclemut has THE most mechanic cred on this site. He has earned the right to lecture when and if he deems it appropriate. Could this have all been done with a bit less chest-puffing and pecker-measuring? Absolutely. But let's not be titty babies about it and go about our business. Who is the smarter engineer and who went to a better school? The answer is easy: My daughter. She went to one of the two or three best engineering schools in the country (Harvey Mudd) and now designs environmental systems for space ships. Yes, she is a rocket scientist. My point? She probably thinks it's the lug nuts that hold the wheel on. Apples and Oranges. Now everybody sing kumbaya and hug it out. Gracias.

I'll hug it out. I'll even buy everyone a beer. No butt touching though.

I want a beer!

I guess it's not closed after all...