3,500 pound Dexter axle bearing pre-load?
I'm putting a new drum-brake system on a single-axle cargo trailer. It has a torsion suspension. I have the components ready to go and one of the old, non-brake assemblies removed. It occurred to me, ...
Forum Discussion
Ranger Smith wrote:
From what I remember when doing mine it was torque axle nuts to 50 ft. lbs and then back nut off to next cotter pin slot.It is a little more involved than "hand snug" as everyones idea of hand snug is different
That is correct, and I don't remember the exact torque required but it's in the Dexter instructions available for download. Basically, you torque the bearing to the spec and rotate the wheel to seat the bearing and then back off to the first cotter pin hole. My old trailer had Dexter 3500 lb axles and I did this several times, easy process.
BTW, most techs I've watched don't use a torque wrench; they tighten the nut down with a large Crescent wrench or Channel Locks, rotate the wheel and then back off the nut. Probably close enough but I prefer to go by the book as it's no harder.
