BTDT-not me personally mind you but my van and my wife. I needed to have
the rear bearings replaced and didn't have any way at that time to  tighten
to the proper torque. I took the Bentley, opened to the correct  page, and my
van to a local mechanic to do the job along with replacing the  front
struts and rear shocks (I provided all the parts for everything). They  charged
me $440.00 (about 5 yrs. ago).I had no problem with their labor charge.  I
still had some looseness and play after driving it so I took it back two
different times for them to check the torque. I was told that everything was as
it should be when I picked it up the last time. My wife was going to the
Old  Time Fiddler's Convention in Galax, Va., about 1.5 hrs. away. I couldn't
get  away from work so I didn't make it this time. She and I met for lunch
as she got  back into town and agreed that we would meet back at the house
and get the van  unloaded-about 5 miles away. I got home and she still was
nowhere to be seen  with the van over an hour later. I then saw the van being
towed into the  driveway minus one wheel. A neighbor that was close to the
whole situation  (about 75 yds. from his house) towed the van to my
house-about 1.5 miles from  his and didn't want to accept any money (gave him $40.00
that I had on me at the  time). Unfortunately it wasn't damage free towing
(rear apron damage). I said  nothing as he was a saint in being right there
before my wife completely freaked  out. She was coming up a hill at around 50
mph and the right rear wheel just  spun off. She laid the right rear side
down in some soft dirt on the shoulder  and brought it to a safe stop. I
really wanted to go down and confront the shop  about re-using a 5 cent cotter
pin and causing the accident but didn't. I just  didn't know for sure what
gave out and caused the problem. I freaked out just  thinking about that same
situation happening at 75 mph on Interstate 77 when she  was coming home. I
got a mechanic buddy of mine to come over and help me  completely redo the
job with more bearings, had to also replace the drum,  backing plate and we
also replaced the cv joints and put in a AA rebuilt  tranny. We used his big
gun with a torque multiplier and had no problem getting  it right the first
time. Be sure you use new axle nuts and of course new pins.  It's cheap
insurance and peace of mind.

David Clarkson
90 Westy 282,000 mi.

In a message dated 6/12/2010 2:02:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET writes:

At 01:19  AM 6/12/2010, M. Jade wrote:
>My rear wheels have been making rumbling  noise. According to my past
>experience I know it is the axle nuts that  are probably loose. So I
>finally checked them today. Sure enough they  are loose. I tightened
>them until I could not turn further. I do not  have a torque wrench
>so I am sure I did not apply enough  torque.

Dear M. Jade,

If your axle nuts aren't tight enough, the  hub will slip on the axle
splines and damage both of them.  It sounds  as though this has
already happened and the hubs and axles may need to  be
replaced.  It's necessary to be sure that you have axle nuts with  ten
slots (rather than the older ones with six).  You must tighten  them
to 360 lb-ft / 500 Newton-meters and then additionally tighten  until
the next slot lines up with the hole for the cotter pin.  The  main
risk is that the drive axles will no longer be able to power  the
wheels reliably, or that the nut itself might possibly fail in  which
case the wheel would depart from the vehicle.

This is not  something you can be casual about.  If you cannot tighten
them  properly yourself you must get someone to do it for  you.

Yours,
David