I was in the process of changing my rear axles seals, and in the book it says to torque the nut to 120-140 ft-pds... Now which is it? Cause I was always taught to tighten it so there is so slop/no preload either?!! So to me 20 spread seems rather high.... Also can you believe the price of them little nut locks? Over 10 bucks CDN. each..... For the 2 seals, 2axle flange gaskets and 2 of the locks it was 140 bucks CDN...

 

Take a big wrench tighten until tight and then back off approx. 1/8 turn or hub turns freely without hub/bearing play. Bet you enjoying buying all your parts at Dodge didn't you, bearings and seals available at bearing supply houses, Permatex automotive silicone black/grey/blue/red etc.= gasket maker works on the drive axles just fine. Lock nuts are now available at NAPA along with locking ****- you save 40-50% OK. Drive for 15 minutes at highway speed and check hubs for heat- warm is OK, can't hold hand on too tight. Make sure hub is prelubed after cleaning check diff level after couple of runs. PK

 

Hey thanks.... I got it all going...I torqued it to 120 and it spun good by hand....But I will do the highway drive and check it again as I read this post after I did it ..

Next time I will go to a bearing supply house....

 

they are talking pre tighten then back off do this a few times with the wheel rotating then just snug (if it has a outer lock nut on top of it that can be snorked dwn. pretty good.)
If you leave your preload at 120 lbs. thats going to be to tight!