I'm about to replace a rear wheel bearing and I realized I don't know the answer to this one.

Instructions are clear: hub nuts must be replaced, they are not reusable. Why is that?

If I were in a crunch (say I need a shim, but must go to store for part) could I safely use the old nut for a day [50 miles], saving the new one for final assembly?

Thanks John

 

They stretch when torqued the first time and can come loose if reused. I wouldn't be concerned about a run to the store, and you can always use some blue locktight to help.

 

+1

On some cars you can reuse them once. They are torqued to a pretty high number and often have a design where you can see they've changed as you torque them up.

I also would not worry about reusing them for a few miles. Might get loose if you kept doing so, though.

 

I believe your part number is the same on the 1998 as on the 2006 (PN JZN100035), if so the hub nut is two parts...the nut that you see, and a coil wound inside the threads to act as a locking mechanism. When I removed my hub nuts the coil came out enough that they could not be reused. Just for fun I tried to rewind it inside and I was unable to do so due to the coil binding and bending. If you can get it rewound I would think you could drive for a time on it, but with the torque values so high there probably is stretching involved. Without the coil the nut is loose enough it will hardly thread onto the axle.

At $25 per nut it is nothing to scoff at, but is cheaper than replacing a wheel and a fender.