Axle Nut Question

[metros]

Way back in the early stages of the build I had new bearings pressed in at all 4 corners. Today I hand tightened the axle nuts with a handheld socket wrench (not anywhere near full torque) while the car is still on the build dolley and realized I wasn't able to spin the wheels by hand any longer. Is this normal until the bearings have a few miles on them?

Brakes don't have any brake fluid yet, so shouldn't be dragging.

[longislandwrx]

I'm assuming the front? You cant turn the hubs by hand? or you cant turn them with wheels attached? sometimes the hubs are tight, but if you have a wheel on there, and that much more leverage you may have an issue.

[STiPWRD]

I rebuilt all my wheel bearings as well and can spin the hubs by hand (with no wheel). Have you tried torquing the axle nuts with the wheels off the ground? The wheel should be able to turn with a torque wrench on the axle nut.

[JAubin]

I had that happen on the rears. Turns out the shop had installed the final inner seal (faces transmission) backwards. That was causing binding when the axle nuts where tightened. Also rust was pushing the dust ring on the axle stub inward which didn't help.

[metros]

This is just the rears. The fronts spin nicely. I'll try it with a torque wrench and see how much force it needs.

I hope I don't have to tear all that apart again.

[JAubin]

Flipping the seal was really easy, just popped it out with a screwdriver, turned it, and pressed back in. The inner facing surface of the seal (ie facing towards the inside of the car, or the surface you can see that touches the axle stub) should have an angled edge that flexes easily. If it's a totally flat surface is it's in backwards.

[Hobby Racer]

Its definitely the rear seals! I did the same thing. If the seals are backwards, the rubber contacts the hub and binds.

Like JAubin said, they come out easily and go back in easily.

[metros]

Does this mean I can remove the rear axles and make this fix without using my shop press? Is the seal just positioned by hand?

[Hobby Racer]

Yes, the seals are not "pressed in". Not with a shop press anyway. You can tap them in with a rubber mallet or a seal driver if you have one (or a large socket). Just be careful removing them as to not damage the rubber lip.

[Scargo]

Removing them without damaging them will be the trick. important to get to the outer part of the seal and pull and pry there. There's a spring in there too, which could get buggered. The seals are not that expensive.
I've used tools like these (for removing plastic body clips):
31Xl6E8l5WL.jpg

[metros]

Good idea, I have a few of those laying around. Hoping to tackle this today.

[metros]

I'm finally getting around to addressing this issue. Here's a picture of the inner rear bearing. Thumbs up or need to switch it around?

[STiPWRD]

That looks fine from the outside based on my memory. I believe there were 2 inner rear seals so there should be another one under the one shown (which from the photo looks like it is there). Were you able to spin the hubs with a torque wrench or breaker bar?

[metros]

It will spin with a wrench on the axle nut but definitely doesn't feel right. Takes way more effort than I would anticipate.

If one side had the reversed seal and the other didn't, would it cause both sides to have the same symptoms? Stock diff, not LSD.

[STiPWRD]

Try removing the axle and just spinning the hubs - you can put a crow bar in between the wheel studs to get leverage. This would remove the transmission out of the equation. Hopefully the grease just needs to work its way around the bearings and you can relieve the friction with a few turns.

[metros]

Both hubs spin smoothly with minimal effort without the axles installed.

Picture of driver side, inside. Anything look out of place here?

[STiPWRD]

That side looks good too. It sounds like your bearings are fine if they spin freely without the axles. Have you checked if the trans is in gear? This will couple the wheels to the motor and add the resistance of turning the motor when spinning the wheels. You could also try putting the trans in neutral and rotating the crank bolt so see if the motor turns over freely.

[metros]

The axle will spin with minimal resistance if the axle nut isn't on or is very loose. That eliminates the trans or engine providing the additional resistance.

On a separate unrelated forum I found that there were 2 likely scenarios if tightening the axle nut froze the axle. 1 the seal is binding because of mis orientation and 2 that the hub wasn't pressed into the race all the way. That site recommended tightening the axle nut to full torque specs to seat everything together and then slightly loosening to recheck movement.

Does that sound reasonable and realistic?

[Scargo]

The axle will spin with minimal resistance if the axle nut isn't on or is very loose. That eliminates the trans or engine providing the additional resistance.

On a separate unrelated forum I found that there were 2 likely scenarios if tightening the axle nut froze the axle. 1 the seal is binding because of mis orientation and 2 that the hub wasn't pressed into the race all the way. That site recommended tightening the axle nut to full torque specs to seat everything together and then slightly loosening to recheck movement.

Does that sound reasonable and realistic?

That the bearing outer race is not seated could very well be the problem. However, I wouldn't recommend fixing it by tightening. It's likely you are already seeing the balls binding as you tighten the nut. Using the balls to press the race in could easily damage the bearing. You need to do it correctly by pressing on the outer race itself.
When you press it apart it is assumed that the bearing is bad and that you will be replacing it. Then you don't care that you press the outer race out with the inner race and balls.

[NBinSD]

Metros what did you end up doing here? I'm having the same issue. Rear wheels don't spin easily when I lightly tighten the axle nut. My inner-most seal is oriented the same as yours - flexible rubber part pointed towards the transmission.