Dang, it seems that every time I post here its because of the front passenger side having some sort of problem. I can't seem to keep the axle nut tight on the pass. side. The come washer, spring washer, and nut are new, and the axle is a rebuilt unit. Any ideas? I'm about ready to just use loctite. Oh yeah, the car is a 91 Loyale 4wd.

Dang, it seems that every time I post here its because of the front passenger side having some sort of problem. I can't seem to keep the axle nut tight on the pass. side. The come washer, spring washer, and nut are new, and the axle is a rebuilt unit. Any ideas? I'm about ready to just use loctite. Oh yeah, the car is a 91 Loyale 4wd.

 

Do you have the cotter pin installed?

cotter pin is there. All the parts that need to be there are there, and before anyone asks, the word out on the spring washer is facing out.

if the cotter pin is there, then the nut cannot be backing out.

 

That leaves only one possibility.. regardless of how "tight" you tighten it, it is NOT at the proper position on the threads.. in other words, something is not seated properly inside the hub, and driving it around a little bit somehow seats it further in.. and you wind up with a looser nut than you had in the first place.

 

Have you completely taken it back apart? I would suspect that one or both bearings weren't properly seated.. but I am just hitting your problem with logic here, I've never had my front hubs apart. I wish I could help more specifically, but hopefully my point will help shake something loose in your head, and help YOU figure it out :-p

I once had a similar problem that threw me for a loop for awhile. Turns out the axle thread was stipped right at the point where the hub assembly was snug, but not completetly seated. After a few miles the looseness would return, though the nut would still "feel" fairly tight.

 

This possibility can be verified/eliminated by threading a nut from top to bottom. You'll have to tear it down enough to have full acess of the axle thread. Unfortunately, the only fix is axle replacement.

 

good luck, John