Should there be a slight amount of play in the wheel bearings?

My car is up on jacks the wheels are off the ground Im checking the play in the wheel bearings. Someone said there should be no play whatsoever if you grab the tire top and bottom and try to wiggle it. The manual says not to make it even finger tight. The cotter pin holes in the spindle shaft are a few degrees apart and turning the nut to the next spindle hole will make it too tight.

Please advise.

 

yes it goes away and yes it still turns, I dont know if there is any resistance but the manual is clear not to tighten it finger tight. Any idea? How do you set yours?

The reason I ask is because they said at the alignment shop that the bearings were loose and it would affect my alignment. They aligned the car and they showed me on the screen that it was in alignment but i notice when i drive it tends to go to the right when i take my hands off the wheel.

 

Gary; it should have a slight amount of play if u wiggle tire at top & bottom. The car should not pull at all if it's aligned right. When u align front end, u have the weight on the front end and if there is slight play in bearings, it wouldn't make it pull at all. Did mine with bubble leveler on flat cement and it runs straight as an arrow without holding the wheel. Yes I have a slight bearing play as suggested in the service manual. Also added caster to 3/4 * on left and 1* on right. (This is to compensate for the crown in most roads). Camber was set at 1/4*positive on both L & R. Put all new Moog front end parts on as well.

 

so is my car going right because they didnt add caster to account for the road crown? I just paid for an alignment, they showed me it was within spec but it pulls right. What should I do?

Did you align your car without a computer alignment? I didnt know that was possible? How do you get the degrees right? Wow.

 

Hey did you double check to make sure that you have equal pressure in your tires??

 

Hi,
My manual says to torque the wheel bearing nut to 19 lbs while turning the wheel, back off the nut and re-torque to 11 lbs. If the spindle hole lines up with one of the six slots in the nut, back off until the next slot is in line with the hole, If neither spindle hole lines up with a slot back off nut no more than 1/4 turn until a slot is in line with a spindle hole.
Bruce

 

Exactly the way i was taught,been doing it since '75:beer

 

Is this a Buick manual? my manual says in bold caps "UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE SPINDLE NUT TO BE EVEN FINGER TIGHT."

it says looseness wil have .002 to .006 inches of end play.


So when you tigthen them are you saying you hold the nut in place and then give the rotor a spin and wherever it stops you go to the next looser cotter hole?

 

Hi Gary,
Are you sure your referring to the info I gave, I didn't make reference to finger tighto No: or spinning the rotor till it stops.
The first paragraph in my manual states, A properly adjusted wheel bearing has 0.002 to 0.006 end play in the hub and a loose nut when adjusted in the following manner.
Then it follows on as I quoted before.
Thanks Bruce

 

Doesn't the 58 have angular contact ball bearings and the 73 angular contact roller bearings. my 54 Chev was tighten in the same manner as your 58.
Bruce

 

with disc brakes you want just a little play.this helps push back the caliper piston so there is no drag on the brakes.

 

I wasnt referring to anything specifically just saying .. just saying finger tight is too tight but the guys that did my alignment said i have play in my b earings and it will throw my alignment off so I didnt knwo waht to do. Theres play in my bearings turning the castle nut to the next available cotter hole would require me to tigthen the nut to finger tight whichh is forbidden. waht to do. Maybe the wiggle is normal and these guys were trying to leave a way out for their alignment work or wanting to do a bearing and lube job I dont know... but the car does pull to the right and I want a straight as an arrow 'you dont see this kind of alignment anymore' kind of alignment. I bade 60 bucks for the alignment and its not straight. im still mad at that service manager for raping me out of my hard earned dough for something for nothing shop fees and add ons that were misleading but i digress. The car is not straight thats my problem and i want to know if theb earings are causing this. At first they told me thats why my tires were wearing so badd, but there is hardly any play at all.. danyway..

 

Ok ill try it, ill take you up on that, i hope you are right. The tires are brand new. If you are right what is causing that ?