Wheel Bearings

K I just did my front wheel bearings on my 82 kz1000p How tight should the axle nuts be? I didnt want to tighten them too much so it would mess with my speedo sending unit, But I dont want the wheel to come off while I am driving down the road. Right now I have the axle just tight enough to feel a slight resistance when you spin the wheel. a good spin will turn the wheel several times before it comes to a stop? another quarter turn in the axle nuts and it will rotate about once and stop, a quarter turn the other way and the wheel is loose enough to spin as long as the wheel can? like I said I got it about in the middle.. what do yall think?

There's something assembled wrong if the axle nut causes any resistance when tightened. When everything is right the axle nut torque has absolutely no effect on the turning of the wheel.

hmm I put it back together the same way it came apart.

Did You remember to reinstall the inner sleave,inside the hub?

yea. that never came out. i just took off the wheel. snap rings. bearings. then replaced bearings snap rings dust cover speedo drive, and then the axle . there are two nuts on either end that have a sleeve on em. and they fit into the forks wich get tightened around the nuts. if I tighten the nuts too much. they press on the bearings causing the wheel to slow down faster due to friction.. this should be normal. It works the same way in cars and trailers

I am thinking that if you overtighten the axle nuts on the front, the speedometer drive will lock in place too tightly... it should have a bit of play I think. The sleeve in the middle of the wheel can't make much difference in this regard.

yea thats what I was thinkin too. thanks george.

I had this problem after reinstalling my front wheel on the KZ750, and someone on this site mentioned that I may not have the tabs on the speedo gear mechanism correctly inserted into the slots. I took it apart, and reassembled it correctly (tabs in slots), and the tightened the axel nuts very tight, with no resistance imparted to the spinning of the wheel.

Remember, these wheel bearings are not tapered bearings like you find on a car or trailer axel. tightening the axel nut should not affect the rolling resistance imparted to the wheel.

Post edited by: apeman, at: 2006/08/24 13:20

apeman wrote:

I had this problem after reinstalling my front wheel on the KZ750, and someone on this site mentioned that I may not have the tabs on the speedo gear mechanism correctly inserted into the slots.....

I had this problem too! My front wheel bolts would unscrew themselves while riding.

You see, I had re-assembled my wheel, but *between* the disk and the hub I had accidentally let the speedo drive piece (the part that later fits in the speedo gear) slip out of it's place when mounting the disk. I promise you, you won't even notice it until this symptom appears. I had originally thought it was my speedo gear mechanism causing the problem, but no...

THE POINT IS, the outer axle bolts can be tightened very very firmly with no resistance whatsoever to the wheel. The inner axle collar keeps the axle nuts from overtightening. If it causes the wheel some resistance, you put it together wrong! Plain and simple! Auuugh!

It could also be that your bearings aren't in all the way, or some other problem....

Post edited by: Biquetoast, at: 2006/08/24 15:10

Ok so what should I do now. When my front end was in the air I could spin the wheel and it moved more freely the looser the axle nuts were. The bearings are in all the way I know this because I can move one a hair when I hit the other with a socket and a hammer.. that would tell me they are both pressed in at least to the spacer between them. The axle is through the center,circlips are on, the left side speedo drive below the circlip as it was when I dissasembled. On the right just a rubber dust cap and the axle nut, both axle nuts are mounted in the forks, and the forks are as tight as I could get em with a box wrench. (pretty tight but not like a .5" rachet)I put this back together exactly as I took it apart. but what you guys said makes sence. its not a tapered bearing. so what gives? any Ideas? everything was in good shape when I examined the wheel (a delightfull suprise. i wonder if it could have something to do with that rubber dust cap. i dont see any other way i could have put it on but maybe something is getting rubbed against that rubber and increasing friction therefore slowing down the wheel. Im gunna go check that out. I wish I could find my manual. its either here or at my shop. My home and buisness both changed locations this month. I have no clue where any thing is.

Post edited by: IlllMikeIlll, at: 2006/08/24 18:52

Here's what I would do, knowing what I know now:

1. Loosen the axel nuts, and slide the axel out enough to be able to remove the speedo gear mechanism.

2. Observe that on the speedo gear mechanism there are a pair of tabs, that are supposed to insert into slots on the facing part of the wheel hub.

3. Reinstall the speedo gear mechanism, making sure that you get the tabs lined up so they go into the slots.

4. Reinstall axel and tighten up your nuts. Test for free wheel spinning.

/

IlllMikeIlll wrote:

Ok so what should I do now.....

I recommend you do what I did when I thought I was going insane and my front axle bolts were slowly unscrewing: I took it all back apart slowly and methodically to find out what I did wrong.

That's how I found that my speedo part (like your #5 part in the diagram below) wasn't seated all the way (it's supposed to be in some insets, and it had slipped out of them during assembly), forcing a seperation against the speedo drive.

Your problem could be different of course, but I recommend you take it all the way apart until you find it.