2000ths

i had the infamous click coming from the rear passenger wheel. i retorqued the axle nut to 225 ft/lbs and it went away for a few days. the click has come back even though it's not as frequent as it was before. is there any harm in trying to torque it even tighter? or does this just mean that my bearings are on the way out?

starchland

maybe your cv joint. did you grease the splne and everything when you torqued it? can you tell if the nut has loosened by looking at the stake? did you do this with the car on the ground or in the air? surely that will make a difference.

2000ths

i only greased the face of the nut as per the how to i read. the nut doesn't look like it's loosened since i retorqued it. still slightly beyond the point where it started before i tightened it. and, yeah, i tightened the nut with the car in the air and e-brake cranked down.

Billman250

If done correctly, the stake on a factory nut will go from 12 oclock to 2 oclock.

skkppy

I did the billman method and it has been fixed for 5k+ miles. I used a very large 3/4" drive snap-on torque wrench and when i got to the 2 o'clock position it tapped out at 340 ft lbs. Like I said I have been click free for 5K miles and have had no adverse affects from the "over torque". I daily my car and drive it pretty hard too. This is just my experience though.

2000ths

wow, 340 ft/lbs?! haha... i guess i could go a little higher then. i went strictly by the torque wrench and set it at 225 ft/lbs. the stake went from 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock. if there is no harm in it i could just try cranking it further.

skkppy

I'm not sayin' for sure there is no harm.... i'm just sayin' that it fixed my ride.

stupkid

Lol I torqued it yesterday to 225ft/lbs but kept making the noise so I torqued it to 250ft/lbs and the noise went away. My driver axle still has some play in it when I shake it though

SgtB

Where is the play? There are a few places it should wiggle, and some it shouldn't. The spindle should have zero lateral play in relation to the hub. If it does the wheel bearing is toast.

Billman250

The axle-nut fix or "axle nut TSB" as we call it (not sure if it was ever a tsb, but an article in a dealer publication) actually has nothing to do with the axle. The ROTATIONAL noise is not coming from the axle, and any play you might see in the axle is likely fine.

The axle nut fix acts directly on the inner bearing races of the rear wheel bearings. It pulls them together, keeps them tight, and keeps them from shifting around on the hub.

A single click or metallic "tink" in forward or reverse is the axle spline moving back and forth a fraction in the hub.

Rotational noises are from the inner wheel bearing races creaking around on the hub. They are meant to be pressed tight to the hub and never move of shift. They eventually shift enough to destroy the bearing.

I'm not sure that 220 ft-lbs will pull a shifted race back into position.

I use a 3/4 drive, long handle ratchet that measures exactly 39" from the handle end to the center of the socket drive. Using this wrench on a nut with a greased face, i can tell exactly how tight the nut needs to be. After removing the nut, greasing the face, and tightening down to the ORIGINAL factory location, this wrench will move the nut like it wasnt even tightened at all. then at just about two oclock, you can feel the resistance change dramitically. This is the races clamping together, and the nut achieving proper torque.

This is just like any other nut or bolt you tighten with the proper size wrench. you can feel when its tight. for this nut, only a 3/4 or 1" drive will give you the feel you need.

One day I will do it 80% of the way, and finish with the torque wrench to give you guys a proper number.