My frontend has felt a bit shaky lately so i decided to check on the wheel bearings.
The drivers side felt tight but the passenger side had a bit of play and "The Clunk™" when i wiggled the wheel with my hands.

After removing the wheel and the dust cap, i first checked if i could rotate the clamp with a large flat screwdriver. Nope, good.
Then i went to check the washer behind the clamp as you're supposed to just barely move it with a screwdriver. Nope, rock solid. Hmmmm.

So i loosen the clamp nut and sure enough, i can move the clamp a good 1/3 rotation tighter with my screwdriver. I check the washer again, rock solid. Hmmmm.

I tighten it all up, put the wheel back on and no more clunk or play. The wheel still rotates freely.

Yet, i was under the impression that you should always be able to move that washer behind the clamp. But if i loosen the clamp enough to just barely be able to move the washer, my wheel feels lose and wiggles and clunks.

So how tight is too tight for those bearings?
Andy

As you well know, tightening the nut will drive the outer bearing into the race. I would drive for a bit to heat it up and then put you hand on the wheel first and then the hub. If neither are hot, you should be running fine no matter what you think is to tight.

Bad bearing or to tight will heat up.

I always leave them loose enough to be able to induce the tiniest clunk with the wheel on, almost imperceiveable with just the hub. You should definitely be able to move the big washer with the tip of the screwdriver.

Andy/ It's been so many years since I've driven my car, but I remember playing with the tightness of the nut for hours. I tried to figure out what was just the perfect balance between the slop and proper snugness. Wheel on, feel for slop, wheel off, slight adjustment, wheel on, Over and over till I was happy. Then I took it for a drive and felt it for heat build up. I may have not been a scientific method, but I could feel the difference in the front end

I am sure there are some here that will disagree with me but that is OK.
I use a screwdriver in the slot of the clamp nut and tighten it firmly. This will be tighter than most people will set the wheel bearings. It is my belief that it is more important to insure that bearings stay seated into the bearing races so the rollers have full even contact with both races. If you think about the load on the wheel bearings once the weight of the car is back on the wheels I think you would have to work at it to get it too tight with a screw driver by hand. I don't crank down on it but I make it nice and snug. A little extra pre-load is going to do any harm.


Jim

I've always tightened them snug and then backed off about 1/8 of a turn. The method that SLITS mentions is probably the best. A bad bearing or a tight bearing will heat up on you and it's pretty easy to diagnose.

Andy, your races are most likely not pressed in right. What happens VERY frequently is people drive the old races out with a punch and in the process whack the seating area. Even though it looks fine the seating lip has a slight swell in it and when the new races are installed they don't seat quite parallel. To get rid of the play, you have to over-torque the nut. I can almost guarantee this is what is going on. If you did a search, you will find a thread where I MIG weld the races to shrink them and they fall out. I never ever beat them out.

Most likely someone in the past did the damage and it's hard to see.

If the races are perfectly parallel the wheel bearing play will come out the second the nut touches the washer. If you have to force the nut tight to get rid of the play, the races are not parallel.

Drove to work today, about 30 miles, mostly freeway @ 80mph.
Did the scenic bypass to get on some twisties for the last 5 miles or so to help with the sideload testing.

Got to work and both wheels were ambient temp. Not even noticeable warm from the brakes.

So that's good!
Andy

Sie bissen geld (I think that's close).

I bite money ???

I think he was trying to say "you're golden."

alas ist in ordnung.

I would suggest you buy a new set of bearings and keep them in the car...they tend to blow out pretty fast and they can be changed fairly quick...and they are cheap.

RIch

Correct .... obviously I don't remember as much as I should in German so I will stick to English. I thought is was Sie sind or Du bist, but couldn't remember.

Ahandie .... "You are Golden"

..."Slight" movement of the washer behind the lock nut means one has to put some ass into the screwdriver to move it, and not being able to flick it with your fingernail, so to speak.
I agree with Paul. When installing the race, one has to be precise.

My method is thorough cleaning and inspecting the hub for cracks and what not. After removing the race, with a tapered brass drift with a substantial lip (land) with a smaller outer diameter cut just undersize of the outer diameter of the race.
I thoroughly check the intermating surfaces for burrs, and remove them if I find them.
Here's the fun part. While all of the cleaning and checking was going on, I placed the race in the freezer, a few hours earlier. When it comes time, after finishing the prep, I heat the hub with a propane torch evenly, while constantly keeping the torch moving, slowly, until it is too warm to touch, approx 140-150 degrees F.
I then place the race, square with the hub, and push it into position with a gloved hand and fingers, quickly. The temperature differential almost sucks the race into place. I follow that with the brass drift and ensure it's all-the-way home and square.
One can see from the backside if the race isn't square or all the way home.

One also has to consider, burnelling, or cold worked races, from long periods of vehicle storage, with the weight on the wheels. Bearing races of tapered rollers have been found to have some level of cold working from being stored on a shelf over a long period of time. Sounds like a "wives' tale," I know, but it's true.

Our front bearings are tapered rollers, and full engagement is required; however, to over-tighten them will cause cage failure, and the worst is ceasure and spindle failure. Bearings are cheap.....take the time to make it a good installation. They work just as hard as the bearings in your engine, if not more, because they see enormous side loads.

...that was my 3 cents worth...hope it helps...oh, yeah...use a good grease, not the cheap stuff....and properly feed the bearing by hand.
Dave