Front Wheel Axle Nut Torque

Okay, I have found the torque in a couple of places for the front axle nut on a KZ900 A. In a post here on KZr it states 51 to 65 ft lb. My Clymer says 55 ft lb. That is all fine. But when I try to apply any sort of torque greater than 15 ft lb, the wheel binds. I believe the axle nuts on 76 are the same as the KZ1000's. When I took the wheel apart, these nuts were only hand tight. I can see that the front axle clamps will keep these nuts from walking and stay in place. I currently have about 15 ft lb. Just very concerned about the torque on these nuts prior to putting it on the clamps. Don't want to go on the road until I am sure. I have double checked the assembly of the wheel (new bearings). So unless the spacer between the bearings has to be installed in a particular direction, then I couldn't have installed anything else wrong. I do want to mention that when I drove the bearings all the way in the center spacer was tight and bearings hard to turn. Had to tap gently on the bearing to get the spacer to move and bearings to turn freely. Any opinions? Thanks in advance.

The outer races must not be in all the way.
Steve

Hi Steve, not sure what you mean? Can you elaborate? This these are sealed AllBalls wheel bearings. Just drove the old ones out and the new ones in. here is a spacer collar in between the bearings on the inside internally in the hub. I can only think of racers on the steering head. No racers on the wheel. I'm working on the front wheel.

The bearings have a inner and outer "race." I have the same kind in my bike. It could be one is not in all the way or cocked slightly. Have you tried tapping the outer race with a large socket to fully seat them? Could be sloppy production tolerances is the culprit. I think I had the same problem finding that "sweet spot."
Steve

A wheel bearing has an outer race & inner race. the outer race mates to the wheel & the inner race mates to the axle.

Also, did you install the bearings dry? I apply bel-ray waterproof marine grease to the wheel recess & out bearing race, but any old grease would work fine.

Hi KZJOE900,
We've seen this happen when the spacer was used as a "punch" to drive out the opposite bearing first, by offsetting it then using a small punch or whatever to hammer on the edges of the spacer. That caused the edges of the relatively soft spacer to mushroom, effectively shortening it. End result is, the effective length of the spacer is shortened some few thousandths, enough that even with the outer races bottomed in the hub bores, there was still enough space between the edges of the inner races and ends of the spacer to allow the inner races to bind from the lateral load applied by the axle fasteners before the load was carried by the spacer.
We always use an inner/blind hole slide hammer bearing puller to avoid damaging the edges of the spacer during the removal of the first bearing.
Hope this all made sense.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Also it's common to not get the speedo drive tangs exactly inserted into the slots in the wheel correctly.. This causes bind for sure. If everything is right the axle nuts can be tightened up to any torque and the wheel will still spin freely.

I ran into this problem the first time I took the front wheel off my 1980 KZ750 E1. and so slimjim+XZ1EBE's explanation makes perfect sense. As KZ900JOE said -

I can see that the front axle clamps will keep these nuts from walking and stay in place. I currently have about 15 ft lb.

I did the same and probably have the same torque on the nuts and have been running like this for perhaps the last 15 - 20,000 kms without issue.. Not saying its ok to do this just that I have done it and I dont worry about it.

When I decide to replace front wheel bearings (did rear a few year ago) I'll be interested in the condition of the spacer....... if there is one .If not then I'll blame PO

RonKZ650 beat me to it - make sure the speedometer drive is oriented correctly. Ed

SWest wrote: The outer races must not be in all the way.
Steve

Yes Steve, now I know what you mean. The answer is yes. The left (disk) bearing is not seated all the way. That is because when I did seat all the way ( this was the second bearing I did), neither the right or left bearing would spin. The pressure from the spacer pressing on the inner racer of each bearing caused it bind a bit. I also could not center the spacer since it was jammed between the two bearings and would not move. So I carefully tapped out left bearing out just a tad to where the spacer could move again and I can turn the inner racers again. Then proceeded to assemble the rest of the hub. It is almost as if the spacer is too long and is causing pressure on each of the bearing inner racers.

JR wrote: I ran into this problem the first time I took the front wheel off my 1980 KZ750 E1. and so slimjim+XZ1EBE's explanation makes perfect sense. As KZ900JOE said -

I can see that the front axle clamps will keep these nuts from walking and stay in place. I currently have about 15 ft lb.

I did the same and probably have the same torque on the nuts and have been running like this for perhaps the last 15 - 20,000 kms without issue.. Not saying its ok to do this just that I have done it and I dont worry about it.

When I decide to replace front wheel bearings (did rear a few year ago) I'll be interested in the condition of the spacer....... if there is one .If not then I'll blame PO

Thank you for everyone's response. JR, I think I am going to do the same. I don't like the idea, but apparently that how it has been all along this past 6 years that I have owned the bike.
I understand what slmjim & Z1BEBE saying and that is probably what is now happening. In my case the cause is because I don't have the left bearing driven home all the way. Since if I do, things jam up even before I put the axle on. If the spacer was shorter, then it shouldn't have gotten jammed by the bearings when they were driven home all the way. The spacer should have been able move around and not put pressure on the bear inner racer and thereby the bearings themselves. Couldn't put the axle under these circumstances since the spacer was not aligned and I couldn't center since it was very tight in there. So I had to slightly back out the bearing in order give some clearance (tapped the left bearing about ever so slightly) in order to continue with assembly. So I am causing the issue with the axle torque putting inward pressure on the inner racers. But I did this in order to avoid the spacer putting outward pressure on the inner racers. Maybe I'm wrong about all this. Don't know.

Anyhow, I have taken a ride and the ride seems perfect. Before the new bearings, I use to have just a little wiggle when I let go the handle bars, or even with my hands lightly on the handlebars, on light deceleration. Now that is gone. Thanks for all the info from everyone.

Were you able to put the circlips back in?
Steve