No...it's not one of those personal ads, but...

I'm replacing the front rotors tomorrow and I need to know the size of the hub nuts. What size socket do I need....2 1/2" or some metric size?

Thanks-a-bunch!!!

 

ttt...

Please, does anyone know what size socket is needed to loosen/tighten the front hub nuts on a 2001 F150 2 wheel drive?

Thanks again,

Kevin

 

Are you talkin the nut that holds the wheel bearng assy on. If so, I just use a pair of channel locs, they are not suppose to be torqued down tight. There is a spec for tightening but dont remeber at the moment. But dont reef them down with a wrench.

Sled....

 

sleddogg,

thanks for your reply...I've got new rotors with the new cups(races) and hopefully the old bearings will be fine to reuse after inspection (don't have them off yet of course).
however, when repacking the bearings and installing them in the new rotors, the procedure is to torque the nut down to a set torque spec (example: 125-150 ft lbs) while rotating the rotor, back the nut off, then retorque to a lower setting (example: 50 ft lbs and spin rotor at same time), then back the nut off either 1/8, 1/6, 1/4 or 1/2 turn for preload. I won't be able to do that with a pair of channel locks...therefore need the socket that fits the nut.

 

Most likely bearing will be fine unless burnt. You can go by exact spec, but have done tons of wheel bearing and brake jobs and have never had a prob that way. Just as important, I would say even more so then the torque spec in a good quality bearing packer. I repack my wheel bearings every 40k or once a year with the miles I drive. Anyway good luck. Best I can say about the nut size is the one that fits..

 

sleddogg,

well...put the new rotors on...had one glitch: On the r/f rotor, I cleaned the inner and outer bearings, rinsed them, then blew them off with compressed air. While blowing off the outer bearing (the smaller one with the plastic cage), the bearing separated...came right apart...rollers dropped to the ground. Put it back together carefully, as the rollers are tapered. Put the r/f back together and had wheel play...about an 1/8" top to bottom and side to side...wheel/tire on. Need to get new bearings for the r/f tomorrow morning...sigh.

The inner brake pad on the l/f was as thick as my fingernail...caught it before going metal to metal (heard a groaning sound from the brakes the last few days...that was the problem). The inside of the rotor had burned spots, like a leopard skin, all around the surface.
Needless to say, took the truck for a test drive and broke in the new Hawk HPS pads to the new OEM Brembo rotors and it is working great.

As for the nut size...its a metric, just under my 1 1/4 SAE socket which worked fine.

Thanks for your advice....Kevin

 

Dude! You should never use compressed air on roller bearings! What you are doing is basically spinning them at like a hundred miles an hour with zero lubrication. They are actually loose fitting for a reason. So they can accomodate more grease...... Just let them air dry and have a beer while you're waiting.

 

Very good point Mitch,

In the ignorant days of my yute I did the very same thing myself mostly cause I liked the sound the bearing made when it spooled up. Sure as snot on a kid, the bearing exploded in my hand with no injury to me but an important lesson learned nonetheless.

 

Mitch...heard this loud boom when I used the compressed air...the speed of the bearing broke the sound barrier

and,


LePew...yeah I learned that back in the mid-60's...it's cool to listen to em wind up to phenomonal speed...did you ever think how far it go if you let it go on the ground after winding it up?