Ugh.  But there it is.

Yrs,
d

On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:09 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> The rear axle nut coming loose is usually due to a previous in correct
> installation (Insufficient torque) allowing the flange to move on the shaft
> until the splines wear. Repair will include a new flange hub and possibly
> the stub axle. Once this occurs re-tightening doesn’t work for long.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Steve Williams
> Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 12:40 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Rear wheel bearings - repeated nut tightening required?
>
> Hi,
>
> I have a 1991 Westfalia.  On a recent road trip my passenger side rear
> wheel started making a bit of a noise.  I have a handy tool to tighten the
> huge nut so pulled the cotter pin and was able to get about 1/2 of a turn
> on the nut.  I figure I put close (if not more) to the 350 foot lbs of
> torque, a 2 foot breaker bar with 185 lbs standing on it to torque it, then
> a gentle bounce to get the nut to the next spot a cotter pin would fit in..
>
> That made the noise go away.  I left the hub cap off and checked the hub
> for excessive heat periodically (15 min, 30 min, 1 hr, then hourly)  for
> the rest of my drive to my destination and all was good.  It never got
> warmer than one would expect with braking.
>
> I got to my destination with no further incidents.
>
> On the way home, about 1000 km later, it started making the noise again.
> I was a bit confused as there was no heat build up... but I figured what
> the heck & re-checked the torque on the axle nut. It needed maybe 1/3 of a
> turn.
>
> *** NOTE *** There is a cotter pin in the nut, so it's not like the nut
> backed off.
>
> I am getting ready to tear into the hub, but I'm curious what I might be
> expecting to see once I get in there...
>
> There must be something wearing for the nut to need tightening again.
> But from my understanding of how the rear bearings are set up, with the
> bearing being torqued down onto the sleeve,etc I don't see how it could
> loosen.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Thanks,
> Steve Williams
>