Tapered wheel bearing: can’t get cotter pin in

[Zachary]

I have a 1991 Camaro RS with disks in the front. My left front wheel bearing went out,so I replaced them. I replaced to races too,and made sure they’re all the way in. I replaced the seal too. I put it all on the spindle,and ran the nut down. I made sure to push the rotor all the way back while I got the nut as far down as possible before it got snug. My issue is I can’t get the castlated nut down far enough to get the holes in the spindle to come into view. I’ve tried spinning the the rotor while turning the nut,but that didn’t do a single thing. What’s my problem?? This is driving me crazy!

Topic

[Erin]

Here are a couple things that come to mind –
Are you SURE you got the correct bearings, races, and seals? Might have to really compare with the old stuff.

Second, if it passes that test, maybe take the other side apart and really observe how things go together. The only risk with doing that is if you run into the same problem on the right side, you have doubled your problems.
Are you sure the new races are properly seated?
Post #11 on this thread has some suggestions.
http://www.thirdgen.org/forums/suspension-chassis/601679-front-wheel-bearings.html

[Mike]

Apparently, there was a “1LE” performance brake option, which takes different bearings and races. Perhaps you have the wrong parts.

[Scott Osborne]

Sometimes you can flip the nut over and get it to work. Just make sure you have enough threads on the spindle to fully engage nut.

I would go back and recheck those races. Also I find that torquing that bolt down , generally I like to run it down to about 25-35 Ft-Lbs while counter rotating the rotor will help to seat those bearings and races. This is part of the procedure on Fords..Not sure about the chevy. On Fords you have to back it off and re torque to 8-12 In-Lbs to set the preload before clocking the bolt and setting the pin. Probably the same for most spindle bearings

[Author]

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