hello, I am in need of some answers with rear axle bearing replacement.

[kully 560]

I was installing new rear axle bearing in my 1974 260z today with the Skf 116 and 117 bearings, all went well until the torque specs. I have the b spacers in there and the factory shop manual states to torque from 180-220' pounds of torque. the preload says 3.9 -inch pounds which does not make sense. but in the factory book under the torque specs section, it says 90-120' pounds. now when I did reach 60' pounds on the driver side axle it was getting hard to spin. I also used the zx rear stub axle nut that does not use the crimp as the early z do. I did try with and without the stub axle washer and as I thought it did not make a difference. is there something I am doing wrong? could it be the Skf bearings? I did use a micro digital gauge and measured the old outer bearing to the new Skf outer bearing, and it was .005" smaller than the Skf bearing. any thoughts thank you Kully

 

[Zed Head]

I think that the range of the torque value is meant to allow you to find the 3.9 inch-lb point once you get past the minimum.  

Have you measured the B spacer?  It is meant to match the B dimension in the strut casting.  Apparently the spacers, or distance pieces, can get mushroomed after overtorquing or impacts during use.

L1 is spec'ed to match L2.  The range overlaps, by a little.  Don't know why they call it L1 and L2 in the drawing, then housing and distance piece in the table.  But you can figure it out.  There's an obvious typo too.

Forgot to say also, that sometimes the seal can cause noticeable friction, apparently.  Haven't done a set myself.

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Zed Head

[Zed Head]

This is interesting and something I've wondered about in the past.  Many of the how-to's you'll find out there use the nut to pull in the bearings.  But the instructions say that one of them should be pressed/pounded in using a special tool.  Seems like #6 should come before the nut tightening.

 

[kully 560]

thanks Zed Head for the help! but I am still confused about the torque range. I will put out the stub axle again and measure the b spacer distance and it should be 52.5mm - 52.56mm long. if is to long will I have to have a machine shop cut it down? now the 3.9" point is measured from where? the mistake I might have made was I did install the inner seal first and then I install the stub axle nut and tried to torque it down . maybe I should take the seal out and torque it down and then remove the nut and install a new seal and nut again?  well like you said it also could be dragging against the bearing .

[kully 560]

I do have a 20 -ton press and I did use to install the outer bearing. the inner bearing I set it in with a socket and hammer and I did make sure it was installed correctly and not crooked. 

[Patcon]

I have done these and had similar problems. I know not having the seal fully seated was part of the problem. Look through my build thread and see if you can find the entries. It's been too long for me to recall...

[Zed Head]

I have noticed that Nissan often offers potentially conflicting specifications.  What if you only get one?  How do you adjust to get the other?

If you look at what the point of all of the parts is the most logical spec., I think, is the end play.  That determines where the balls are riding in the race.  And that's the most important thing, I think.

If I was doing one I'd just get up to the minimum torque on the nut and stop when I got the end play right.  Maybe even go up to the high limit, back off, then retorque to proper end play.  Kind of like setting a front wheel bearing.

[kully 560]

 I am going to put the shaft out again and measure the b spacer and start from there. it did look good and not egged or crushed but I will measure it and see where it is at. thanks

[kully 560]

I did finish the rear axle stub bearings today. thanks Zed Head for the help, I removed the stub axle and you were right about the seal causing friction. I did set it flush with a block of wood and a hammer yesterday. now after looking at the seal again today the seal has to be set in almost a 1/4" from the outside. there is just a small lip that I felt and set the seal up to that which just about touching the inner bearing. I torque the stub axles down to 200- foot pounds and it does spin freely with no noise and binding. I guess the flange has just enough flex when being torque down that it must just flex enough to cause the binding. it is a very simple job besides that little problem. the shop book says nothing about the seal install and I did it the usual way which is wrong. now anybody looking to do the bearing replacement make sure the seal is all the way in and you should be fine. thanks again for the great help. kully