Dana 44 wheel bearing

[blubuckaroo]

When the pin doesn't line up, don't go tighter. Go looser. That clearance is important for expansion.

 

[Rustytruck]

flip the lock ring over the hole pattern is not symmetrical to the key slot.

 

[MS73HD302]

I’m going to pick up an indicator over the next couple days and report back on findings

 

[MS73HD302]

Got the dial on the spinal with the magnet on the drum and with moderate pressure got .001 after follow the manual procedure. I checked this with the tire off and pushing/pulling on the back of the drum to get the reading. First time using one of those but followed the check bearing enday YouTube video for instruction. Does this end play need to have the tire on or off?

 

[DirtDonk]

The play itself does not change, or care if the tire is on or off. But the tire on does give you more leverage as you're testing, so I think that's a good thing.
You can still check with the tire off of course, but it takes more physical effort.

A reading of .001" is tight, but it's within the spec (from .001 to .010 inch) so you are theoretically good. If you want to compare, you could re-do (or just check the other side?) the nuts with the book procedure to see if you get a change.
Only reason I'm saying that is that perhaps with only .001" there is some of that coming from physical flex of things including the mounting of the gauge.

I don't know this, but I do think it's possible.
Whatever is easier though. Either measure the other side to compare, or since you already have this side opened up, take the few minutes to do the adjustment again.

In a pinch, if you think you're measurement is a true indicator of play in the bearing itself, then you could roll with that because it's not bound up. Personally though, I think it's worth a couple of tries this first time with the gauge to see what you can get out of it.
Since mine always fell into the .005-.006 inch category, I'm just naturally leery of such a tight tolerance as one thousandth of an inch.

No matter the outcome, good on you for testing. I bet you're one of the very few here in literally years that has bothered.

Paul

 

[MS73HD302]

If testing with the tire on would you go from the magnet on the hub (because mines back assembled) to the lip or just inside (stocks steel wheels) of the rim and then grab the tire at 12 and 6 with the indicator at the 12 position on the wheel. I’d bet it’s closer to .005 with the tire on
A- more leverage
B- since I have no clue how much force should be used when pulling/pushing... moderate was firm but prob 50% force.

 

[DirtDonk]

You can't put too much force on it. Only too little.
Remember that the weight of the vehicle plus gravity (cornering G's as well as downward G's) are working against these same bearings. So I doubt that you could ever put enough force on them by hand to skew the measurements.

I would prefer an true in-and-out movement myself, but you can still get pretty close by rocking I believe. It won't matter where you grab the tire, because it's a full 360° thing, being the bearings are perfectly round (or should be!) so play is play, and location does not matter. You're just looking for movement of the bearing hub relative to the bearing spindle.

I'm thinking that if the lug nuts are tight, then it should not matter that the magnetic base is on a steel wheel instead of the steel hub.
But maybe others with a more engineering mindset can add their three cents to this procedure.

Paul

 

[MS73HD302]

Gotcha I’ll recheck with the in-out movement instead of the rocking back and forth. On the plus side getting very used to doing this job haha pretty easy just want to make sure I’ve got it correct.

 

[DirtDonk]

Cool. Can't wait to hear the results. And you'll be happy with how it works for the long haul.
The only thing that can get in your way now, is if the bearings and/or races are already somehow compromised (normal wear and tear), but even at that, having them adjusted properly will still extend their lives.

Paul

 

[MS73HD302]

I can’t get anything beside .001 on the end play... if I loosen the inner nut to get more endplay the spindle flops around once outer nut torqued. Tried different outer nuts torques too but the endplay stays the same. When rocking it side to side I could get .005 with 80 ft pounds on the outer nut. Maybe all the cold grease is keeping it snug it is 28 degrees today...

 

[DirtDonk]

Interesting. Are you measuring between the hub and the spindle end, or at the center of the axle shaft itself? The spindle I assume.

The cold grease is a thing, but not enough to skew measurements. That first 50lb turn-down squeezes any excess grease out of the rollers so all of your readings should be pretty accurate.
Did you try rocking the wheel too, rather than just pulling in and out?

And there is something in the wording here. The "spindle flops around" is sounding kind of fishy. The spindle is rigidly bolted to the knuckle and the only thing that should be loosening up with the bearings, is the bearing hub (and by extension the rotor and wheel).
Where are you placing the dial-indicator?

Paul

 

[MS73HD302]

Hub excuse me. Putting the magnetic on the hub and the dial on the shaft in the middle of the hub

 

[Rustytruck]

I usually put the Mag base on the hub and the dial indicator tip on the top torqued spindle nuts. make sure the dial indicator is pushed down at least one revolution and then zero the dial. keep the dial indicator shaft straight in on the nut not at an angle. push pull the drum or rotor straight in and out.

 

[MS73HD302]

I get zero when I measure against the torqued outside nut but that makes sense to me since it’s torqued to 100 it should not move. I’m rocking the truck on the stand trying to get a reading

 

[Rustytruck]

undo the lock nut and back up the inner nut about 1/8 of a turn then reline up the lock washer on the pin and re-torque the outer nut. check end play again. you don't have to pull so hard to shake the whole truck.

 

[MS73HD302]

I’m going to try again tomorrow... noninsulated shop with uncharacteristic cold weather for the past few days.
I appreciate everyone hanging in there with me on this.

 

[DirtDonk]

I get zero when I measure against the torqued outside nut but that makes sense to me since it’s torqued to 100 it should not move.

The nut is not what's moving and not what you're measuring. The nut basically becomes the zero point that you're measuring against.
It's the hub that moves (or should move) when you pull the wheel out and push it back in.

You can give yourself something to compare to by leaving the outer nut loose and then rocking the wheel. You should have a ton of play at that point. So loose that it rocks back and forth and you can hear things clunk-clunk inside.
Then torquing the nut down should make most of that disappear.

And you're right. This is probably why most don't do it anymore!

Paul

 

[MS73HD302]

Finally got it! Back off another 1/8 turn on the inner nut then gradually worked my torque up in 10 lb increments until .005 hub movement at 100 lbs thank God! Learning how to measure I believe was the most fustrating part but once you get the dial set up it’s a breeze and some warmer weather would have helped!

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread and I believe this is a great write up on how to get this job done correctly!

 

[DirtDonk]

Nice goin'!
Once you have it measured, did you go back and just "feel" the play by rocking the wheel or the rotor? Is it there, but just barely discernible if you carefully listen and feel? If so, sounds like you're right on the money.

Did you happen to note the play just before torquing down the outer nut?

Paul

 

[MS73HD302]

I can barely notice the play once everything was torqued down. At 50 lbs it moved the dial (.500?) half the dial then 80 for lbs it was at .100 then 90 lbs was at .007 then 100 lbs .005