Tightness Recommendation for Castle Nut on Trailer Hub

Updated 08/10/2018 | Published 08/09/2018

Question:

Hello, I just went to grease my boat trailers wheel bearings, and found that there was some play on the wheel. It was visible at the hub, and probably more than 1/4inch or so mentioned as okay on the outer part of the tire. So, I tightened the nut down, backed it off, and tightened finger tight. This put the castle nut right in line with whole without backing off. If I backed off, to the next hole, it was too loose. If I put it fully finger tight, it appeared maybe a bit too tight - very slight resistance when spinning the tire, but would still spin several times on one push. The goldilocks place is right in the middle, but I cant get there because of the castle nut. So my question is, am I better to go on the tight side, which is snug with no play, or the loose side, which is where the other responses seem to indicate, or is there another option such as a shim/spacer or different castle nut with more spaces that should be used? Thanks in advance.

asked by: Steve

Expert Reply:

I'd go on the tighter side of what you mentioned where there's no play yet you can still spin the wheel several times on one push. You might put your hand on the hub to feel if it's getting overly warm next trip you take but I believe that's the best spot you'll have.

expert reply by: Jameson C