KIC will be exhibiting at the 2007 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY. Come visit us at booth number 6728 in the West Wing. We will be in the West Wing while the the East Wing is being remodeled.

KIC was without power this morning for about 35 minutes. We're back up as of 9:50 am PST.

Just in case you tried to reach KIC in the last 12 hours, we have been without power since about 9PM PST December 14th. A large windstorm came through the region last night and caused wide power outages. As of this morning, KIC is back up and running.

Labels: weather

If you're in the Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington area, give us a call (800-488-5422). We will make you an eggnog latte!

For wheel hub bearing adjustment, KIC recommends the use of TMC RP618 (Truck Maintenance Council's Recommended Maintenance Practices). TMC members represent manufacturers and fleets, and have well written Recommended Practices for a host of truck issues and technical matters.

RP618 calls for the bearing cones to be adjusted to have endplay (ie no spindle nut torque creating bearing cone force against the bearing cups.) The process requires initially torquing the spindle nut to 200 ft*lbf while rotating the hub to help seat/align the rollers. The nut is then loosen 1 turn and the hub rotated. The nut is retorqued to 50 ft*lbf and backed off a partial turn (see full procedure and back off table in RP618). By doing this, ~.003" of endplay is created, when .001" to .005" endplay is required. RP618 recommends locking nut to maintain the adjustment as well as verifying the endplay with a dial indicator.

KIC does not generally support SAE J2535, which describes setting wheel hub bearings in preload. SAE J2535 places the bearing cones into preload (ie no endplay), and provides no direct procedure to achieve the recommend preload forces. To implement SAE J2535 successfully, there must be significant study and testing done to ensure the bearing adjustment is done correctly. It is not meant for general wheel hub installation. SAE J2535 requires high degree of knowledge and precision and is not readily measurable. RP618 is highly repeatable by its nature and is measurable. Additionally, SAE J2535 warns that hub failure can occur, if its information is not used correctly. Thus, KIC recommends RP618 as a general wheel hub bearing adjustment procedure.

Some wheel end products with bearing spacers or other special bearing devices made by other manufacturers require special installation procedures. KIC always recommends consulting the manufacturer's recommendations, before adjusting or re-installing a wheel end.

TMC Recommended Practices can be bought directly by clicking here or as part of joining TMC.

Labels: adjustment, bearings, wheel hub

KIC Hub and Drum assemblies feature prominently on the cover of the most recent Trailer-Body Builders Magazine. KIC's new ad also appears in the October issue. Here's the link