Torque On Rear Axle Nut

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philipswanson

Well-known member
Older posts say 200 to 220 ft. lbs. on the rear axle nut. Could this be right for the preload of that rear axle (wheel) bearing? Seems like allot of torque for that poor little nut on the end of the axle.
 
The rear axle bearing is a straight (parallel) roller bearing, not a tapered roller, so the axle torque is only to keep the hub tight on the the axle taper i.e. no bearing pre-load. I believe 200 ft/lbs is the correct setting.
 
Those numbers you quoted are correct. I recommend going to 200 - then driving the car around a bit (taking some corners, etc) - then come back and re-torque to 210 or so. I realize it seems like a lot (and you better have a big torque wrench), but it is super important. When you see guys who are breaking axle keys - it is usually because they have not correctly torqued their hubs to their axles.

Now when you have a lot of horsepower and sticky tires . . . and then just snap the end of the axle off . . . you have it about right! LOL (ask me how I know these things!).
 
I have a friend that's now 87 years young and he's been fooling around with these old Fords for a looong time. He told me that an old Ford Mechanic told him to tighten the nut then after a couple hundred miles to tighten it again. Do this until you can't tighten it anymore. I've followed this advice for the last 30 years and have never had an issue with axles.
 
Ive just made sure they are clean , use a torque wrench to 150 and then gone to the next castellation, if you can go beyond that you're better than me . I never have checked after driving , once they're on they're on at that torque I reckon.
 
If the threads on the axles are good, and the axle nuts are made from the correct material, and properly heat treated as originally made by Ford, you will not have any issues when torquing to the correct specifications. However, be advised that some of the axle nuts available from todays suppliers are not made to original Ford specifications, and will not withstand the torque requirements.
I make sure I have original Ford axle nuts on my cars.
 
I use aircraft type self locking nuts and check the torque regularly. After a few retightening cycles I cannot tighten them any further. The brand name is "Philidas". Even then I still check them any time I am working on the car. They are not backing off, I paint marked them, but after a while after driving some, they will always go a bit further. That's why I am not confident in using the castellated nuts.

Mart.
 
The problem comes when you want to remove drums for maintence ..friend has destroyed two high quality pullers designed for this job bent the axle threads ,but gave up before completely destroying the axle,,
Next move is to split drums with thin grinderwheele then replace drums or weld back!!!!
 
Don said:
The problem comes when you want to remove drums for maintence ..friend has destroyed two high quality pullers designed for this job bent the axle threads ,but gave up before completely destroying the axle,,
Next move is to split drums with thin grinderwheele then replace drums or weld back!!!!
Click to expand...

If he was using a puller like this KR Wilson, or its reproduction version, I doubt if he would have destroyed it, and more than likely would have removed that drum. This puller has repeatedly removed rear drums on my cars that had axle nuts torqued to 200+ ft lbs.
 

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Mart. Thanks for your nut post. Never heard of that nut but sure would like to know about where to buy the one that fits the 40 Ford axle. Do they make them to SAE thread sizes?
Please post more info. if possible.
That is a very ingenious nut.
http://www.philidaslimited.co.uk/
 
JM 35
so the puller is a press fit on the hub i dont remember a grove in the hub to bite into? the collar slides over it and makes a tight fit to pull??
 
No, the puller is not a press fit on the hub. The two blue halves fit together, and a flange on the front of the two halves fit into a groove in the hub. The black ring locks the two halves together. There is a threaded nut that fits on the axle threads to protect the end of the axle, and its threads on this version. When the end bolt assembly is tightened with an impact wrench, or by hand using a strong bar and socket, that drum will come off the tapered axle, sometimes poping and sounding like a gun firing.
 
4ford:
Puller works as shown below.
You can see the groove for the puller located right in front of the brake drum.
Never use the old 3 legged puller as they can damage your axle.
 

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I have been told that if you back off the axle nuts (a little), reinstall the cotters and take it for a short drive with some tight L&R turns it will help removal of the drums.

Works for me

The K&R style puller is a useful item. A regular bearing puller can mess up the groove on the hub and often isn't up to the job.
 
When installing the hub, the first thing to do is to take a flat file to the taper, to confirm that there are no burrs. A single raised burr, if not removed, can provide the 200 ftlbs you require initially, until the car is driven, during which, that burr(s) will hammer down and release your torque. This is where some guys find that re-torquing becomes necessary, because they didn't remove the burrs before installation.

The torque value of 200+ ftlbs will occur well within the strength of the threads of a good axle and nut. Experienced garage mechanics will have had sufficient experience in torque values to trust their judgement of feel, and will use a cheater bar instead of a torque wrench, using their foot on the bar to tighten the axle nut.

The "high quality pullers designed for this job" that were destroyed in use were not designed for pulling a Ford drum. The KRW puller and a couple others that copy it's design are the only pullers that will neither damage the drum nor itself in use.
 
4ford said:
JM 35
so the puller is a press fit on the hub i dont remember a grove in the hub to bite into? the collar slides over it and makes a tight fit to pull??
Click to expand...

Below are a couple of pics depicting the raised part of the rear hub that the raised lips on the two blue halves of the puller pull against, as JM 35 describes above. DD

334419


179752
 
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