Front Wheel Bearing Hack on 1984 240

Nearing completion on a long-postponed front wheel bearing adjustment and packing on my '84 240, I did a very stupid thing, viz. not backing off the passenger-side locking nut the prescribed amount. Haynes says to torque the nut to 50 lbs/ft and then back off a third of a turn, while Bentley prescribes torquing the nut to 41 lbs/ft and backing off a half turn. Stupid, _STUPID_ me backed off the nut a quarter turn from 50 lbs/ft; that seemed to be where I could line up the hole for the cotter pin. Well, about 200 miles later, that bearing started to hum and buzz and I knew I had a major problem on my hands. At first, upon visual inspection of the wheel, I could see and smell grease. Things had gotten so hot in there that the grease cap popped off but fortunately was held in place by the hubcap, the early eighties style donut and center cap style. So I had all of this grease that had turned into coke (?) to clean up and wonder about getting home from Down East Maine to Boston. Well, I hummed and buzzed home and the car drove more or less normally. I had braced for bearing and/or brake failure but fortunately nothing happened.

I ruled out a complete bearing replacement on the offending side as I just didn't have the time. I had done a complete about five years ago and did not want to deal with the brake caliper disconnection and bleed, never mind the work required to properly install new bearings and races. It's an all day affair. So I cheated: I got a hold of a new outer bearing, crossed my fingers that that was the problem and not the inner bearing, cleaned out the metal-impregnated leftover grease as best as I could, and torqued and backed off as close as I could to specification using the original cup. So far so good but I do not know how long this is going to last. Perhaps someone has done this too and can tell their story?

I will never be so foolish again. The agony of waiting to solve the mishap was excruciating. My thanks to the people at Cinderella Carriage Co., Cambridge MA for their advice and _immediate_ parts availability.

Thanks for reading,

Nick Zervas
1984 240 DL 'Ulrika', @ 292k

 

packing on my '84 240, I did a very stupid thing, viz. not backing off the
passenger-side locking nut the prescribed amount. Haynes says to torque the
nut to 50 lbs/ft and then back off a third of a turn, while Bentley
prescribes torquing the nut to 41 lbs/ft and backing off a half turn.
Stupid, _STUPID_ me backed off the nut a quarter turn from 50 lbs/ft; that
seemed to be where I could line up the hole for the cotter pin. Well, about
200 miles later, that bearing started to hum and buzz and I knew I had a
major problem on my hands. At first, upon visual inspection of the wheel, I
could see and smell grease. Things had gotten so hot in there that the
grease cap popped off but fortunately was held in place by the hubcap, the
early eighties style donut and center cap style. So I had all of this
grease that had turned into coke (?) to clean up and wonder about getting
home from Down East Maine to Boston. Well, I hummed and buzzed home and the
car drove more or less normally. I had braced for bearing and/or brake
failure but fortunately nothing happened.

Nick,

I've just managed to settle down again after reading how much you tightened
and left that wheel bearing, I think you are very lucky to have not damaged
the spindle! I have never had a running, smooth, quiet, wheel bearing on any
car that wasn't just a little more than hand tight, or I just allowed the
weight the spanner, etc, to final tighten it, if of course, the holes don't
line up, then you have a decision, whether to loosen or tighten slightly. A
quote from my haynes manual for you:-
"Step 22, Spin the hub in a forward direction while tightening the spindle
nut to approx 20 ft/lbs to seat the bearings and remove any grease or burrs
which could cause excessive bearing play later.
Step 23, Loosen the spindle nut 1/4-turn, then using your hand (not a wrench
of any kind), tighten the nut until it's snug. Install a new cotter pin
through the hole in the spindle and the slots in the nut. If the slots don't
line up slacken the slightly until they do."

To my knowledge this procedure and specification is the same for any wheel
bearing of this type.

Hope this helps, TTFN
Ken Phillips

didn't have the time. I had done a complete about five years ago and did
not want to deal with the brake caliper disconnection and bleed, never mind
the work required to properly install new bearings and races. It's an all
day affair. So I cheated: I got a hold of a new outer bearing, crossed my
fingers that that was the problem and not the inner bearing, cleaned out the
metal-impregnated leftover grease as best as I could, and torqued and backed
off as close as I could to specification using the original cup. So far so
good but I do not know how long this is going to last. Perhaps someone has
done this too and can tell their story?

mishap was excruciating. My thanks to the people at Cinderella Carriage
Co., Cambridge MA for their advice and _immediate_ parts availability.

 

Ken -

Thank you for your attention to the matter of my wheel bearing. I will take your
advice very, _very_ seriously and yes it does help tremendously. So far so good on
the new bearing although the grease cap tends to dislodge. All things being equal, I
think that this is just because the cap is old and loose and therefore does not grip
well to the hub.

Again, thank you very much for reading my post and for the follow up advice. Sorry to
have caused you any consternation.

Take care,

NickZ

 

Just a word of warning....

Some cars MUST be torqued to a specific torque setting (particularly FWD
cars). Minis for example require a torque of up to 150 lb/ft on the hub nut
(dependent on model). When this is the case there will be a spacer between
the bearings and it is this that is tightened against when torquing the nut.
Only use the finger tight method where there is no spacer between the
bearings....

A.