How Tight Should Spindle Nut Be When Installed

Updated 03/23/2015 | Published 03/20/2015

Question:

After you tighten the bearing nut, how far should you back the nut off?

asked by: Greg C

Helpful Expert Reply:

If you are talking about a castle nut when installing bearings on a wheel you will want to make sure the hub is seated properly, back off the castle nut until it is loose. Then tighten the castle nut until it stops and look where the cotter pin hole lines up with one of the notches on the nut. If you have a tang washer you will need to do this by sight.

Next, you will want to back the nut off one notch, so that the cotter pin will fit through the castle nut.
Then install the cotter pin and then spin the hub. You can rock the hub front to back. You should barely feel it move. You can test this by backing the nut off one more notch. You can feel the difference in the play.

After installing the wheel rock the wheel front to back again. On the outside edge of the tire, the movement should not be more than 1/4 inch. You should not be able to notice any play at all. When you feel it is adjusted properly, you just insert the cotter pin and spread the ends of the cotter pin to secure it.

expert reply by: Jeffrey L