Need some input / knowledge on hub runout check. I can't spin the hub freely??

Hey guys I'm looking for a quick reply with input or knowledge to something I may be missing .

I have my car up on stands and I'm checking for runout on my front 2 rotors and hubs.

The issue is I took everything off ( caliper, pads) so it's just the rotor bolted to the hub on both sides of the car and the hubs/ axle shafts are very difficult to spin**.the point of the test is to see if my wheel bearing Is toast as I've been having lateral wear on my pads.*

1) should the hub be spinning on its own or should the hub and shaft be spinning together. I was thinking if its a good quality new hub it should spin freely by itself with no shaft movement. And if its a worn bearing /starting to seize it's giving me this issue where if I turn the hub the whole shaft spins also??*


Summary*
I understand it is a open differential and only 1 side spins ( whichever I'm rotating) but I don't understand if the hub should spin freely or with the axle shaft also under load. THANK YOU

is the car in neutral?

I honestly don't understand what you are trying to describe. The end of the CV is inside the splined hole of the hub so if you are spinning the hub, the axle will spin too.
What does lateral wear mean?

Lateral = a taper its wearing on a angle. One end will be .020" less than the other side


Yes it's in neutral

It was impossible to spin the hub without a 24" breaker bar and socket hooked up to the lugs and pushing hard to finally break it free and start spinning them.

Even with the bar the hubs /rotors were extremely hard to rotate

The hub is bolted to the axle, so they will always spin together. It should have some resistance though, as you are basically spinning the differential inside the transmission when you spin the hub. But it should not require a breaker bar to do that. You shouldn't be able to spin the hub by hand, but with the wheel on, you should be able to without too much effort.

If you are not using enough washers on the lug bolts they might extend through the back of the hub far enough to come into contact with something that will prevent the hub from turning.

Something is binding/dragging on that hub. You should be able to spin the rotor by hand when the transmission is in neutral. Do you still have the caliper and pads attached to the hub when trying to spin it?

Wingnut said:

The hub is bolted to the axle, so they will always spin together. It should have some resistance though, as you are basically spinning the differential inside the transmission when you spin the hub. But it should not require a breaker bar to do that. You shouldn't be able to spin the hub by hand, but with the wheel on, you should be able to without too much effort.

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imo000 said:

Something is binding/dragging on that hub. You should be able to spin the rotor by hand when the transmission is in neutral. Do you still have the caliper and pads attached to the hub when trying to spin it?

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each of you two knowledgeable tdi guys said something that contradicts the other with regards to spinning the hub by hand? all I can say is I couldn't budge the hub by hand but when I managed to move it with a bar it was as if it freed up and it spun a lot easier and if I tried really hard I could move it by hand at this point

mu3098 said:

If you are not using enough washers on the lug bolts they might extend through the back of the hub far enough to come into contact with something that will prevent the hub from turning.

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nope I double checked that, nothing was binding or making contact.

03tdiwagon said:

nope I double checked that, nothing was binding or making contact.

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Are you still driving the car like this? Where abouts are you?

03tdiwagon said:

nope I double checked that, nothing was binding or making contact.

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Was the other tire on the ground?

imo000 said:

Was the other tire on the ground?

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That makes complete sense.

03tdiwagon said:

each of you two knowledgeable tdi guys said something that contradicts the other with regards to spinning the hub by hand? all I can say is I couldn't budge the hub by hand but when I managed to move it with a bar it was as if it freed up and it spun a lot easier and if I tried really hard I could move it by hand at this point

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My mistake. I said hub, imo000 said rotor. It is difficult to spin the 'hub' by hand. It is small and not much leverage to be able to spin it freely. With a rotor on the hub, it has a larger diameter and is easier to spin by hand. I misread your original post that said your rotor was still bolted to the hub and thought you were trying to spin just the hub. The bottom line is that it should not require significant force to spin it as you described having to use a breaker bar.