I have just changed the back hubs before fitting alloy wheels. The old ones weren’t all that flat where the wheel must have been loose in the past. The right hand side was just as tight as expected. Peter’s puller worked a treat - thanks… But the left hand side, while not loose, could hardly be called tight. The hub nut was probably about 30 lbft, and the hub came off the taper easily. The puller hardly strained at all.
My question in several parts:
1/ is this common?
2/ I put it all back as per the book and torqued the hub nut to 110 lbft. Used a bit of locktite. What is the chance the wheel will stay on?!
3/ Should I use a new nut?
4/ Should I use a new washer?
5/ Should I recheck the hub-nut torque? when? how often?
6/ Does anyone have suggestions for a locking nut arrangement?
You should always be suspcious of a loose or easily removed hub and check the fit of the hub on the shaft taper carefully and lap it to a good fit.
If the fit is good and nut torqued to specification then they will not come loose in a road car. The load from the nut is sufficent to lock the hub on the shaft and provided the nyloc is in good condtion then it will not come loose.
In a competition car the hubs can distort under cornering loads and come loose on the shaft over time. At one stage I was having to retighten the hubs after each race. I have now fitted stronger steel hubs to over come this in my Elan.