Noise After Replacing Stub Axle

[Miles]

My Z started making noises like a U joint flange had come loose so I inspected each joint and found that the left flange that connects to the left stub axle was just flopping around. Removal of the flange revealed that the staked nut had sheared off right where the threads meet the splines. I had a spare stub axle so I drove out the broken axle and installed the spare.

The original broken axle had a larger diameter threaded section then the replacement and it used the staked nut. The replacement used a nylock nut. The replacement also had a copper bushing and the original axle didn't. I installed the copper bushing with the replacement stub axle.

When I test drove the car I could hear scraping noise coming from the left rear and I assumed that the drum was rubbing on the backing plate. Inspection showed that the drum was rubbing in two places so I bent the backing plate away from the drum and thought the noise would be gone. The scraping noise is still there, but not as bad. The scraping noise gets worse when making a right hand turn.

I didn't replace the bearings since I knew the history of both stub axles and never had a problem.

What could be causing rubbing noise - backing plate, bearings, nut not torqued tight enough?

Thanks

Miles

[Gav240z]

Hi Miles,

I have noticed a similar scraping noise from my Z on the rear left. I thought it was my rear drums since I have only recently replaced them and I think they need adjusting. I'll be keen to see what the cause of your problem is since I think we have the same problem. It seems to be more obvious when slowing down or braking do you find the same?

[Miles]

The used stub axle I installed turned out to have a slightly bent hub from when my son slid his V8 240Z into a curb. Visually, you couldent tell it was bent, but on the car under load it caused the brake drum to wobble enough that it rubbed on the baking plate dust guard. It also caused the drum to drag on the shoes at one specific spot.

I got tired of searching junk yards for another used, and potentially weak, stub axle so I called my Nissan dealer and bought a new stub axle with a set of inner/outer bearings and a grease seal. The stub axle ran about $250.00. The dealer installed the parts for $190.00 which I thought was very reasonable since I would have had to hunt up the tools and have a machine shop remove and press on the outer bearing. Total shop time was about 2.5 hours.

Next month I plan on replacing the right side stub axle with all new parts.

Victoria British also sells the stub axle for about $275.00.

Miles

[Ed]

Sorry I missed your original post. I was going to suggest that it was probably still rubbing against the backing plate. There should be an even gap between the it and the drum.

Glad to hear that you got it fixed.

Did you do the spindle pin while you were there?