Rear axle hub not seating properly (1 Viewer)

[wrxFTWdey]

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to wrap up my rear axle rebuild, however, the hub will not seat properly on the spindle. The new koyo wheel bearings are greased, the inside of the hub, and the spindle has some as well. Red and tacky 2 fyi.
The spindle surface was a little bit scored so I cleaned it up with a wire wheel attached to a drill. The new inner wheel bearing seems to only seat halfway on the spindle. My guess is friction caused the scoring and now the new bearing cannot seat properly. Races are properly seated as well. Seated them with the proper tools and double checked to make sure they were seated. Any ideas how to get the hub to seat properly? I already tried putting the wheel back on the axle and pushing it on that way. It won't budge. I tried using a brass hammer, going around the hub and hitting it, that didn't work either. Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

[BILT4ME]

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to wrap up my rear axle rebuild, however, the hub will not seat properly on the spindle. The new koyo wheel bearings are greased, the inside of the hub, and the spindle has some as well. Red and tacky 2 fyi.
The spindle surface was a little bit scored so I cleaned it up with a wire wheel attached to a drill. The new inner wheel bearing seems to only seat halfway on the spindle. My guess is friction caused the scoring and now the new bearing cannot seat properly. Races are properly seated as well. Seated them with the proper tools and double checked to make sure they were seated. Any ideas how to get the hub to seat properly? I already tried putting the wheel back on the axle and pushing it on that way. It won't budge. I tried using a brass hammer, going around the hub and hitting it, that didn't work either. Any help or advice is appreciated.

Pull the hub, take the outer baring, turn it around an see if it will slide all the way to the base of the spindle. If so, It's not a spindle issue.

Did you seat the race all the way inside the hub?
Is the race pointed the correct direction inside the hub?
Did you grease the seal and the seal surface on the spindle before assembling?

It should slide all the way on, with only the last 1/2" or so being even remotely difficult, as the seal slips over the spindle seal surface.

You have the seal in the correct direction, right?

You have the wheel bearing in the hub the correct direction?

 

[wrxFTWdey]

Pull the hub, take the outer baring, turn it around an see if it will slide all the way to the base of the spindle. If so, It's not a spindle issue.

Did you seat the race all the way inside the hub?
Is the race pointed the correct direction inside the hub?
Did you grease the seal and the seal surface on the spindle before assembling?

It should slide all the way on, with only the last 1/2" or so being even remotely difficult, as the seal slips over the spindle seal surface.

You have the seal in the correct direction, right?

You have the wheel bearing in the hub the correct direction?

So I double checked what you recommended. The bearing goes on normally and seats all the way when I removed it from the hub. I was just clearly mistaken. I thought the hub needed to close the gap with the brake shield if that makes sense?
There’s about a 1/4 inch gap between the brake shield and the inner seal on the hub. But the bearings and races are all properly installed. I will attach photos of the seals, hopefully you can give the thumbs up and verify they are both going the correct direction!

 

[BILT4ME]

So I double checked what you recommended. The bearing goes on normally and seats all the way when I removed it from the hub. I was just clearly mistaken. I thought the hub needed to close the gap with the brake shield if that makes sense?
There’s about a 1/4 inch gap between the brake shield and the inner seal on the hub. But the bearings and races are all properly installed. I will attach photos of the seals, hopefully you can give the thumbs up and verify they are both going the correct direction!

View attachment 2477750

View attachment 2477751

It looks like you're hitting the long edge of the seal on the back part of the spindle before it can seat. I'm basing that on the visual on the seal where it is deformed on the wide lip part. It's not damaged, it's just deformed from pushing on it.

Install the outer bearing in the hub while you slide the assembly on, and push with your fingers against the outer bearing to seat the hub. This insures that the hub is going on straight. Also, rotate the hub as you push it on to allow the seal to slide over the seal surface more easily.

The inner axle seal looks fine.

You need more grease BETWEEN the bearings in the hub. Should be about 2/3 full between them. This way the grease doesn't liquify and run out without a "pool" of liquid grease being on the bearings.

There are a few here that have encountered an incorrect bearing part number that has a different edge on it. It does NOT look like that's the case here, but since you confirmed your outer bearing fits, make sure that you inner bearing is the EXACT same number and letter designation as the outer.