Hi, Thought I'd change the 28 year old grease in my front wheel bearings & noticed no cotter pin but a staked nut for the bearing retention. In a normal car I'd just re-use it but since its red, Italian and they're almost $20 a piece surely I'm expected to replace them. Whats the accepted practice? Thanks Bill
Bill, I replaced them when I re-packed my bearings. I did save the old ones though since it looked like they'd only been used once. Figured it can't hurt to have a halfway decent spare around.
Replace it ideally... but if that gets hard, skim 1 quarter or 3 quarters of the thread pitch off the flat side of the nut, and it'll turn a quarter turn to a fresh bit of "staking material". Remember, the RH side has a LH thread.
I replaced the spindle nuts with new from Superformance. They were not too expensive. Honestly, I think my old ones would have been fine, but I was ordering some stuff anyway. I'll also keep the old ones as spares. If you are in there, and your bearings show any sign of rust, or looseness, pitting- just replace them also. I bet they will after 28 years. A simple SKF bearing set#2 and set#6 from any NAPA will fit perfectly. Bring your old bearings in to confirm during purchase. Less that $20 per side, and they fit perfectly. The bearing races (what the bearing rides in) are pressed into the hub, and should also be replaced if there is sign of wear. I just replaced them so the new bearings have a fresh surface to rotate in. The outer bearing can be removed easily, but the inner and all races require the hub be removed. This also means the rotor and caliper need to come off. In the second photo, you can see the install of a new race, and the old races and grease seal to the right. I replaced the grease seals also- they are on the back of the hub. Also bought from Superformance. They sent the wrong ones the first time, but got it sorted quickly. What are peoples recomendations on torquing these spindle nuts? There are some different proceedures posted on other threads, and I'm curious. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Brilliant! I used my Dremel and ground off 90 degrees of the thread. This simple process makes the nut reusable several times!
switch nuts from left to right on car, they then usually end up in a different tightened position for staking.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the left nut is clockwise thread, right nut is anti-clockwise thread. Might be tough to do unless you really force it on!
FYI... 308 (and 246 I believe) spindle nuts are from Fiat 124's (all years including the 2000 cc models), just pop down to your local Fiat dealer for Ricambi Originali....I think I used to pay approx $1.00 ea! Cheers!
