Replacing my wheel bearings, question about the rear hub nut.

Guys,

I am in the process of replacing my front wheel bearings.

I removed the steering knuckle/spindle, and took it to a local mechanic to have the hub and bearing pressed out.

The rear hub nut (seen below with 4 holes) isn't really a NUT.



This is the nut that the FSM says need to be torqued to 203 ft.lbs. Unfortunately, it requires a special tool with 4 prongs to get it off.

The mechanic used a chisel, and he says it came right off. He also used the chisel to tighten it back up.

I asked if he torqued it to 203 ft.lbs, but he said he can't honeslty say. It wasn't torqued to that amount when he removed it, so he tightened it to as tight as possible back on. But since he doesn't have the special tool, he can't use a torque wrench.

He also said the nut has a "locking notch" seen in the picture below, where the little indention is going into the hub in the upper right...



...and because of that locking notch, that bolt isn't going anywhere.

SO MY QUESTION...

Do I trust that it's tight + the locking notch is good enough or...

Do I take the knuckle to Toyota and have them rape me to have the bolt properly torqued using the SST (Special Service Tool).

I am putting everything back together tomorrow, so your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

I have used the chisel method on other vehicles without a problem. It's still your call, though.

 

You need to torque to spec. The reason why it was easy to remove was because old bearing was weared and it could not hold 200+ ft-lb torque. BTW you can easily make your own tool. Cut square of 1/4 metal, drill 4 holes and put 4 bolts in them. Drill bigger hole into the center and put big bolt tighten so the head is facing opposite direction the other 4 bolts are. You can use torque wrench with socket to tighten the hole thing up.

Toyota full float axles are the same way on the rear.

 

I'll run over to Toyota and see how much they'll charge me to tighten it.

Great idea on making the tool. At this point the knuckles are ready to install.

I really hope they'll just do without grief.

 

Hey I am doing the same thing. I bought the tool. Do you have to remove the center brass nut thing with the notches? I believe I just really screwed mine up because the notches are now huge gashes. But I got the lock nut off.

 

What do you mean by the center brass nut thing with the notches?

You mean the one with the six notches there in the center, then no, you don't.

Once you remove the lock nut with the 4 holes in it, there should be a snap ring in there that needs to come out before you press the hub out.

 

Gahhhh yes I meant that.
The snap ring. Okay. I wonder if I can replace that. Gahhh. There is a washer/spacer thing over it. Dang. Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

 

So I pulled the hub out and the bearing failed while I was pulling it out. The snap ring is on the hub side. It is almost impossible to get it out unless you pull the hub. I ended up buying a new hub and snap ring since I totally obliterated it. I guess that is what happens when the bearing needs to be replaced.

The good news is that I finally found the source of the nasty wheel clunk/bang noise when I turned my steering wheel. It was the tiniest bit of play within the bearing. The lock nut was very loose. I am starting the rebuild process today with the manual hub seals and studs coming in tomorrow. I hope to do the driver side a lot differently.

 

Just walked over to my neighbor's mechanic shop and he let me borrow the torque wrench. I can now see why it needs 203 ft/lbs. The bearing will move in the races if it isn't properly torqued.

 

I took mine over to Toyota.

The tech did not charge me to torque it with the SST, but he was not able to get it to 203 ft.lbs.


He says the tightest he could get it was about 170 ft. lbs before he broke the SST from over torquing.

And according to him, (a master tech), the nut wasn't going any where at the current torque.

I haven'thad any problems so far.