Left front wheel axle nut found loose

[Buzo]

Started having a roar sound a couple of days ago, finally checked it and found there was some up and down play in the left front weel.

The axle nut was loose. I did read the manual and there are a lot of specials tools needed just to change the bearing, like presses and some stuff that I don't have.

so my questions are

should I just re-thighten it? or
should I replace the whole thing?

I ask to know if somebody had the same issue before and fixed it just by re-thighten the nut and is stilll good.

[Buzo]

Never mind, I dissasembled everything and I will look for the whole part at the JYs tomorrow.

[YK86]

That nut not only keeps the axle end tight in the hub but it also keeps the bearing race and hub tight in the knuckle. If the car has been driven for a long time with the nut loose, it would be a good idea to change the bearing as the race is probably now worn out. If it's only done it a day or so, tightening it back up will be fine.

[Dr_Snooz]

You can beat wheel bearings out with a big socket and a 4# sledge hammer. I have also used a punch and a claw hammer to beat them out. I much prefer it to having them pressed.

[gp02a0083]

next time make sure that the axle nut is tight and stake it where the notch in the axle is

[Buzo]

Thanks for your comments.
I found the bearings at Autozone and there is one shop here with an hydraulic press. They charged only $10 to make the change for me.
Bought both bearings but had chance to change only the left one.

Do you know if the right axle nut is left-threaded or something? Tryed to unscrew it until I broke the tool I was using.

[Buzo]

next time make sure that the axle nut is tight and stake it where the notch in the axle is

I believe this was the cause of my bearing damage. It was not staked.

[YK86]

The nut is normal threaded on both sides. Those axle nuts can be seized pretty good. I was snapping 1/2 drive breaker bars all the time doing lots of cars so I ended up buying a 3/4 drive 4' breaker bar and haven't broken one since.

[mykwikcoupe]

if you search the board for axle nut you will see alot of people on the board having issues with the nut being way too hard to get off. Im with yk86, I have just a standard 3/4 breaker bar from sears. its about 2 ft long and has a bend in it where one nut refused to come loose til I hit it with an impact wrench at 750 ft lbs. Some say the nuts are epoxy coated from the factory to be sure they dont rattle loose over time. Once you get it off once they are generally pretty easy after that. i think torque is 168 ft lbs when reinstalling.

[dieselgus]

140ft-lbs, stake with a punch. They should be replaced once removed as the portion that is punched in weakens when you un punch the staked portion for removal and can fail. They are cheap, 'round the $10 mark each.

[Dr_Snooz]

More like 134 ft-lbs for front and rear.

You can reuse the nuts if you swap sides. Use the left one on the right side and vice versa.