Gunpilot

Getting this car close to finished. Picked it up as a project from someone that had the complete Monster kit from Martin.

The previous owner told me the rear end and axles were done. The 7.5 rear end was bolted in and axles were stabbed on both ends. I noticed the rear tires were wobbly indicating axle nut was not tightened all the way. I grabbed my impact and hit it a few times. Tire tightened right up, but now is frozen and will not spin freely. I figured I over tightened the nut, and backed it off a bit. Tire was still froze. I used a mallet to hit axle back out of wheel bearing and tire started to spin, but not as freely as I would hope for.

Is there a trick to this? Will it loosen up over time? This really makes the car difficult to push. I would like to be certain the axle is completely set in the diff and hub bearing and that Im not doing damage to any components.

tbone heller

Do you have new hub bearings installed? If not, I would suggest that you replace them. The old bearings could have been damaged during hub removal.

MRM331

I second that. Are we running yet?

-Jason

Gunpilot

Not running yet. Still at exhaust shop. I posted pics in my build thread of exhaust progress.

I think I will try new bearings in the rear hubs (after car is running darn it).

KOEO test still not working. I jumpered the wire and CEL just comes on solid. No blinks? This makes me think electrical issue. I am on my second ECM (both do same thing).

Gunpilot

Still trying to backwards engineer what previous owner did...

I just found the original reciept from Martin and it indicates broached hubs with bearings. I assume the bearings are new.

From reading the this forum and others, could I maybe be missing the spacers that came with the kit? What do they look like so I can inspect for them? Anyone have pics of the assembly sequence?

Thanks

cvx_20

You probably need "the spacer" that keeps the cv joint from hitting the upright/seal area. Typically this spacer is about 1/4" thick, OD sized to clear the seal, if any, ID sized to fit over the stub that has the splines. The ID should be chamfered on one side to accommodate the radius on the axle. Maybe somebody will chime in with a pic, I don't have any, but we recently went thru this exercise on Jack's (funo2se) car. These spacers are standard issue with the kit, I think, so Martin should be able to help you out.

Gunpilot

I have these 2 aluminum rings floating around in a pile of parts given to me. Would these be the spacers?


They are beveled on the interior on both sides.

cvx_20

Them are them. The double chamfer means you can't get them on wrong There was a big discussion on another forum about the aluminum versus steel. If I were making them, I would use steel. If I had the aluminum ones in my hand and it meant I could have the thing running today, I would use the aluminum and keep an eye on the axle nuts. Your call.

Mike

Gunpilot

Ah Ha! Problem solved.....hopefully. I tightened the hub nut up pretty good to draw in the axle. Hopefully I did not damage the bearings!

Guess I will take off the hub nut and use a mallet to hit the axle back out of the hub to slide these spacers on. Dont think this is gonna be easy! They are a pretty tight fit in the splines.

chpmnsws6

Who has those spacers made in steel? I remember seeing it at one time. I'd like to have a steel set as opposed to the aluminum ones Martin provides (unless someone wants to talk me into just using these)

MRM331

The only thing they are rubbing against is the rubber oil seal of the Miata spindle. If they are not centered they could have an issue which I think is what the entire hubbub was about in the past. I've used the aluminum ones on all my builds without issue.

-Jason