Help - Rear axle nut won't tighten enough to get cotter pin in.

Replacing the rear wheel bearing on the 98 mk3 Jetta TDI.





The axle nut tightens most of the way, then spins in place, it won't tighten enough to expose enough of the hole to get the cotter pin through.


How do you get the cotter pin through, without causing permanent damage to the stub axle ?

That castellated nut cover isn't symmetrical. You should be able to remove, then rotate to expose the hole better.

-Todd

Thanks ToddA1.
The problem is ALSO that the axle nut needs to tighten up about 1/8 inch more, to reduce the wobble. It's a little too loose. A new bearing shouldn't wobble at all, right?


I think this thread is similar problem, on a front end of an A4:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=5335375#post5335375

Chris_TDI_98 said:

Replacing the rear wheel bearing on the 98 mk3 Jetta TDI.

The axle nut tightens most of the way, then spins in place,?

Click to expand...

The nut should never "spin in place" are you saying that its stripped out? You should be able to tighten the nut with the weight of your arm resting on the tool as you spin the drum backwards (in reverse) that's as tight as you want it and not much more or you will kill the bearing. Do this a few times to make sure its seated properly.

It will tighten and stop spinning due to clamping pressure. If you cant line up the castle nut than something is wrong with your install, if that nut is spinning than its stripped out. Not sure exactly what your problem is but its not right. the castle nut cover is universal and you should be able to make this work. NEVER REUSE A COTTER PIN. buy a new one.

in my estimation, looking at how your bearing is 'seated' something there is not right. either you didnt put a new, corresponding race in, and/or correct, or old race isnt seated properly. ?. put a new, correct, that is corresponding race in, correct, it must seat. other than that stub threads may be stripped, or adjustment nut may be stripped, bad. new nut is a cinch, can buy one most anywhere, get a good one.

One late night when I was trying to get my daily driver back on the road, I accidentally put the bearing on backwards. It looked just like that. I must have swore at that thing for an hour or more before I realized my sleep deprived mistake. Flipped the bearing around and it was fine.

I left in the existing inner race, and outer bearing race, because they're only 1-2 years old, they look in good condition.
I took off the nut to inspect. Half of the nut threads are stripped, the other half of the nut threads are OK.
Is the inner or outer bearing half installed in reverse? I highly doubt it, I checked them at the time I put them in.
EDIT: I added an extra washer (5/8 inch) to provide the added tightness, so it won't wobble.
I'm just stuck wondering how to effectively tighten up this axle nut...
1. Should I get a new axle nut? Probably yeah, eh. What's the standard size and thread pitch of this axle nut?

2. Attempt to fix the damaged threads on the axle by means of a Dremel tool spinning disc?


PICTURE OF THE AXLE NUT:





PICTURE OF THE AXLE THREADS.

TOAST! At first glance, both the nut and the stub axle need to be replaced.
If you were to run a die of the appropriate size across the axle threads to clean them up maybe you could then see how bad the threads are.
If they are not near perfect I would not trust driving on that.

Definitely time for a new stub axle!

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

stub axles arent that hard to find, me thinks, putting them in, not too difficult.

Unfortunately all the junk yards here are closed at 5pm, and parts departments at VW dealerships closed at 1pm.
Won't open again until Monday morning.
I'm now asking in the local facebook group for vw, and other european car, owners with parts to buy sell trade
With luck, one will have a good condition stub axle for $15 - $20, with axle nut.

Really? How can I monkey rig something with FUBARed threads so that it could fail causing the wheel and hub to fall off? Really? Do not drive the car until the spindle and nut are replaced.

On bearings, always replace the races when you replace the bearings. The bearing and race are a matched set when they are manufactured.

Why is there not that many miles on the set you are replacing? Improper installation or just Chinese junk?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a1139/4205243/

Ol'Rattler said:

Why is there not that many miles on the set you are replacing? Improper installation or just Chinese junk?

Click to expand...

These bearings were carefully installed. Don't know why they degraded over these last 2 years. Possibly from carrying loads in the trunk and back seat very often.

A picture of the box. Brand is MEYLE Products. Designed in Germany, manufactured in China, sold in the US by NAPA Auto Parts.





EDIT: Link to the wheel bearing kit on meyle.com catalog online:
http://web2.carparts-cat.com/defaul...63A8F1946B1BAF46E230E4584E2348004&14=4&12=130

there is your answer.
meyle is crap. I won't use it.

JETaah said:

there is your answer.
meyle is crap. I won't use it.

Click to expand...

OK, which brand do you use for these rear split bearings.

JETaah said:

there is your answer.
meyle is crap. I won't use it.

Click to expand...

heheh, wp, i was thinking the same thing, oh and the china made in line too. either, and, or. so is that 2 strikes or more, or just one. actually from what he indicates they didnt do bad at all, 2years, after a 'careful instillation', under considerable load,usage, hey, if you knew what you were getting into by buying one of these, youd probably figure you got more than your use out of it. then again i dont know about your money$ out of it, as you ruined some stuff. thats what it does! no surprise.

I should correct that. I won't use Meyle anymore unless I absolutely have to.

I wound up putting Meyle stub axles on my Passat wagon about 8 years and ~20K miles ago because the OEM option at the time was ridiculously expensive...something like $300 per axle stub. They are no longer available in OEM last that I checked.
The Meyle stub axle's bearing fit was looser than it should be from the start and they have worn so that you can't take the slop out of the bearing. CRAP!
It may be the only aftermarket option out there because these cars are getting so old.

I checked with AutohausAZ and they sell the Meyle stubs for ~$16 each.
IDparts.com sells the stub axles for $19 each and don't make mention of the brand name. That tells me that they are not proud of the choice and that it is probably Meyle or whatever Chinese brand surfaces to the marketplace.

Meyle is branded as German but the place of manufacture can vary and given that they are almost always the cheapest choice means that the quality reflects the price.

Here is an alternate choice for the bearings:
https://www.idparts.com/rear-wheel-bearing-kit-fag-a3b4-p-290.html

Just found this:
https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/197060/Stub-Axle-Rear-357501117/

Junkyard time for sure

Best wheel bearing kit http://www.germanautoparts.com/productdisplay/3681
Usually FAG or SKF. Call to confirm. They are a great parts source, no junk.

If you were to buy a wheel nut at a hardware store...

What's the size of the shaft the wheel nut fits onto?

Thread pitch?

Mongler98 said:

Junkyard time for sure

Click to expand...

The trouble is that even the OEM ones wear. By now, meaning of higher mileage, most that you find in a junk yard will be worn so there is a loose fit between the bearing race and axle shaft. That is hard on the new bearing. It will make the inner and outer bearings run slightly off axis with one another. If you can tolerate that it would a cheaper alternative from the new OEMS. At least the material it may be made from will be of a better quality than the Chinese version.

I'm carrying about 200 pounds on a regular basis in the trunk and back seat - tools, parts, all kind of things, I'm treating my Jetta as if it were a pickup truck - LOL !


The rear shocks are probably not helping very much to absorb the impacts of bumps in the road - I'm overdue I've been planning to replace the stock OEM rear struts with heavier duty stiffer spring rate rear struts from a Pasaat, as performed by someone else here in TDIclub, and recommended as a nice upgrade, when you're hauling and towing often and want to get rid of the rear end sag.


What about a heavy-duty alternative replacement of these rear split wheel bearings?



Has anyone here ever tried a stronger tougher wheel bearing?



Or swapped in a totally different, stronger rear stub axle system, like for example, something from a pickup truck ??

200lbs isn't a big deal at all. I wouldn't consider that a factor in your wheel bearing failures.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

Probably underestimated that weight. I didn't count the 2 full size lead acid car/boat batteries in the back seat foot wells. So add 100 pounds. 300 pounds total. Maybe 400 total. I haven't weighed everything.

JETaah said:

The trouble is that even the OEM ones wear. By now, meaning of higher mileage, most that you find in a junk yard will be worn so there is a loose fit between the bearing race and axle shaft. That is hard on the new bearing. It will make the inner and outer bearings run slightly off axis with one another. If you can tolerate that it would a cheaper alternative from the new OEMS. At least the material it may be made from will be of a better quality than the Chinese version.

Click to expand...

As long as the inner races are a good fit on the axle, I'd run used. The inner race is only seated on the axle, it's not spinning on the axle. Wear should be minimal, if at all.

I've only had one stub axle go bad, in 25 years. That one was my fault; I ignored the bearing howling and kept going. It eventually welded the bearing race to the stub axle.

-Todd

Also, the car sometimes tows a 4x8 trailer. So the tongue weight of the loaded trailer adds probably 100 pounds on average. And it's about 2 feet behind the axle, which causes a fulcrum effect.

^moral of you stor(ies), (in multiple posts), use good parts. probably have better results. i know i do.
that stub axle isnt cheap, ive seen easy to find ones, that one aint worth the aggravation, or co$t. *for a set of 'cheap' bearings. big price for that.

ToddA1 said:

As long as the inner races are a good fit on the axle, I'd run used. The inner race is only seated on the axle, it's not spinning on the axle. Wear should be minimal, if at all.

I've only had one stub axle go bad, in 25 years. That one was my fault; I ignored the bearing howling and kept going. It eventually welded the bearing race to the stub axle.

-Todd

Click to expand...

These days, most of the A3, B4 cars that come in the shop have a wobble in the rear wheels that is not attributed to bad bearings or insufficient bearing preload.
If you tighten the nut enough, you can get the wobble out but you have put way too much preload on the bearing by that point. You are clamping the bearing to the face of the stub axle.

When you pull the hub off there is a step in the shaft where the races seat. If it did not move it would not happen. The bearing races may not be spinning at wheel speed but it does move in some measure.

It is not the end of the world. I have been riding on mine for a good long time that way. But it will get to the point where it will have to be dealt with.

One thing I should note.



I've installed a rear lower sway bar, for 4 years now. Consequently, in turns, the forces are greater on both side rear axle nuts and rear bearings. Since the rear lower sway bar keeps the car flatter in turns. It's fun as hell to drive. Really feels like a race car. Squeals the tires more easily and sooner in the turns. Like you're riding on rails. It hardly sways the body of the car at all. But the downside is, the rear lower sway bar strains the bearings and axle nuts harder than a stock OEM rear suspension would.