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what is the correct proceedure for tightening front wheel bearings 37 ford original

3K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  37ford4dr 
#1 ·
title just about says it all..this is on an original 37 ford spindle

just got done with a major front end rebuild and the bearings are cleaned and regreased and the wheel drum is back on the car. i want to know the correct proceedure for tightening the front wheel bearings...i did too much work to get the last step wrong, i was hoping to find some actual instructions with a torque setting to use and then to back off so many 1/4 turns etc, etc...thks bob
 
#2 ·
Right from the Ford Service Bulletin: "Wheel Bearing Adjustment When front hubs are reinstalled, the wheel bearings should be correctly adjusted. Correct adjustment is to run the spindle nut up tight with a wrench with a 10-12 inch handle.. Then back the nut off not less than one castelliation or not more than 2 castelliations.". The reason to tighten it snug before backing off is to ensure the excess grease is squeezed out from between the balls/rollers and races. The tendency is to not tighten them enough on the initial torque, thus it is too loose and can cause a shimmy that will result in destroyed bearings if left un checked.

Trees
 
#4 ·
trees, that worked perfectly....held my 1 1/4 open end wrench about 8" down on the middle part and snugged it up then backed off 1 castle on drivers side and 1 1/4 castle on pass side... how all that is left to do is to adjust the brakes and take it off the stands, thks bob

ps i looked through my service bulletin 38-40 something and there were no service bulletins for this, i guess i need to get the earlier service bulletin book too.
 
#5 ·
My book ends with the 37. If there is an index to find the bulletins, I can't find it. I just thumb through the years of interest until I find what I am looking for. As you know, since these are service bulletins, some times the bulletin applicable to the 34 could well appear in 36 so if you don't find what you are looking for in your year model, expand your search upward in years. It was not easy finding the front wheel bearing torquing because it was in the an alignment bulletin!!

Trees
 
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