Hello. I have a 2014 supercrew 4WD with the 5.0. It currently has 82,600 miles on it. I’m planning to replace the pads/rotors along with the wheel hub assemblies because they are starting to grind. Apparently it’s common. As well as the IWE (integrated wheel ends to engage the 4WD by vacuum) is going out as well. I was watching some videos on YouTube to empower myself to have them replaced myself. However I was wondering if the axle nuts holding on the wheel hub is a one-time use only? Some videos say yes, some other videos say no.
The plastic bit on the end keeps water away from the threads. The red stuff is threadlocker (Loctite). You can clean it and add more threadlocker but the seal likely won’t work as well if at all. Best to spend a few bucks and buy new ones.
It’s not the question of money. I just wanted to check before taking the front end apart and find out that I have to get new ones. They aren’t always available at part stores in stock. Thanks for the advice.
Back to my 1st post, does the nut say do not re use on it??? If so then get new ones, if not probably not a one time use and you can reuse the old ones with no issues…
I have however seen the one time use ones come loose, more than once, could have been cause it is a disposable nut or not properly torqued to spec… I have never tried to reuse one while torquing it to spec to see what would happen cause I was not going to risk a customer like that… So I can not with data tell you what would happen…
I’ve only done axles on Gm passenger cars so no expert. On rebuilt axles I’ve always gotten a new nut included. The factory manuals call for not reusing the nut. I’ve never seen the do not reuse stamped on the nut though. I believe the nut is a locking nut so once it is used, the locking ability is much lessened or nonexistent. I’ve also never noticed lock tight on the nut. In a pinch I have reused the nut but used lock tight on the threads. I’ve never had a problem either way and holly cow they are tightened severely. So I think it is best practices to replace the nut if you can get them. If you can’t I’d use locktight at least. I’ve got a feeling the shops working on my transmissions though never used a new nut. So there is best practices by the book and what many do.
That spindle nut in the photo looks like it was purposely deformed a little, staked. If deforming the nut is part of the install process, it definitely shouldn’t be re-used.
That method looks like a much more secure hub-holder than what’s used for my truck. I have an older Ford truck 4x4 w/manual locking hubs. There’s no big spindle nut like that at all. I think what holds the hub mechanism on, a snap ring and small bolts spaced around the free-hub’s circle. There’s a fairly good sized lock-nut that holds the brake drum on the spindle, part of the wheel bearing ass’y.
