so i think i have a loose axle nut. i have all the symptoms associated with it. i wanted to check it out but after reading for the last hour i cannot find a definite answer to a few questions.

1. can i re-use the nut after undenting it?

2. what do i need to grease and what should i not get grease on?

3. wheel on or off the ground when i re-torque? can i just pop the caps and re-torque the nut or should i jack up the car, pull the wheel off and then proceed?

thanks a ton and sorry if this has been beaten to death but all i could really find were discussions about the tsb. a short write up might be helpful. or a link to a thread that answers my questions if i totally missed it.

 

1. Yes at your own risk
2.use oil, not grease, the threads and the contact surface of the nut
3. Take the wheel off and retorque; the Twrench will not fit through the cap hole

 

1.thanks
2.thanks
3.thanks

i don't think they have ever been re-torqued so one re-use for the nuts shouldn't be too bad. i read somewhere of people getting new ones and some people being on their fourth or fifth re-dent.

 

1.) its not hard, you retorque to 220ft/lbs
2.) you only oil the part that hits the hub
3.) Don't take the wheel off, all you need to take off is the center cap. The 36mm axle nut socket will fit through it. It also makes it alot easier to to retorque because your using the cars weight!

 

so just oil the base of the nut? not the inside of the threads of the nut?

 

i just re-torqued my axle nuts to cure the clicking. Had no torque wrench but using an impact gun didn't worry me too much.

unstaked and removed the axle nut
used grease on the contact face of the axle nut to facilitate acceptance of new specs
hand tightened the nut then gave it a few blips with the impact gun and restaked

the nut moved about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch more when comparing the original and new stake marks. this is less movement than what other owners have reported when they re-torqued theirs but either way the clicking is gone.

 

when i redo mine, i've never taken off the wheel. only the center cap.

 

 

How many times have you "redone" yours? If it is redone properly the first time it shouldn't be an issue.

 

2 times