Wheel bearing washer test question, How easy should it move? Options

[emerygt350]

Just curious. I did my fronts last week and rechecked them today. How easily should the washer move? I can make it move easily when I pry against the side of the hub with a screw driver. Is that right or should it be easy to move without prying? And does it really matter that much? I am from the old school "tighten til it's hard to rotate and the back it off half a turn" world.

[rjames]

"loosen clamping nut until the tab washer can just be pushed easily and laterally be [by] means of a screw driver".

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

Yeah, it's a feel thing, but easy to get wrong. Funny that I installed new bearings many years go just fine, but when I rebuilt my front suspension last year and replaced the bearings, I apparently overtightened them using the same method I had read was the 'correct' method in another post and turned 2 perfectly good (and refinished) strut assemblies into metal that's ready for the recycler. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) To bad those spindles aren't replaceable.

The big lesson I learned was that you should be able to move the washer with a screwdriver without prying against the hub. Also don't overtighten the allen screw on the nut. The spec is much lower than you'd think.