I am just about to attempt to replace my wheel bearings on rear offside when I get a dry day.

Do you guys use a low torque wrench when adjusting wheel bearings or just make a "best guess". Haynes says after tightening to 15nm and tapping the brake drum, undoing the nut a little, at the end it should be tightened to 5nm before inserting the split pin.

I am considering getting one of these Sealey STW1012 - Torque Wrench 3/8"Sq Drive 2-24Nm/1.47-17.70lb.ft --- Sealey & Draper Tools - Classic-Car-World Tool Shop a Sealey Torque Wrench 3/8"Sq Drive 2-24Nm. Waste of money or a good thing to get?

Thanks in advance.

I make a decent guess. My half-inch driver is about 9 inches long, that's about three-quarters of a foot, so a force of 20 pounds on the end of the lever is 15 ft-pounds, etc. Rear wheel bearings are not fantastically critical, to be honest, and one can usually estimate the force one is applying reasonably accurately - say plus or minus 25%, which is fine.

Matter of fact I use that trick for almost everything except stuff inside the engine, which is a bit more critical. For instance, front hub nuts - 130-pound bloke (yes, I'm skinny) standing 18inches along a breaker bar = 200ft lb!

I usually tighten the 24mm nut fairly tightly and turn the drum to settle the bearings in. Then loosen the nut and retighten the nut just over finger tight so that it just eliminates play. Fit the collar thingy over the nut and if necessary tighten the nut to align the holes to allow the new split pin to be fitted. I don't bother with a torque wrench personally.

Thanks, I'll save my money then

A good torque wrench is never a waste of money!

Vw/Skoda, says that the plate behind the nut, when tighted, can be moved with a little force, with a screwdriver.

Put the screwdriver in between the plate, and the drum, and turn the screwdriver around.

The plate has to move, when you put the same amount of force in the screwdriver as you would when loosening a screw.

Best Regards

Morten, from Denmark.

Ps I work a VW/AUDI/SKODA