I have a 1990 crx with a gsr swap (s1 cable trans) and have been having nothing but problems with what I think to be my axles. The first problem was a clunking noise when rapidly hitting the gas pedal, coming from the drivers side. I then replaced both the axles with "new" 90-93 integra units from Kragen auto parts and the clunking was still there, now with a very loud rotation clunking when turning left and accelerating at freeway speeds.

Now I am literally in the process of replacing it for the third time, the axle is in, but I cannot tighten the axle spindle nut any more than hand tight without it binding the hub assy. it freely spins when loose, then i tighten it up and the wheel no longer spins freely, I loosen it back up and I then have to push the physical axle back an 1/8? of an inch for it to spin freely again.

Anyone have experience with this problem or know why it's happening???
thanks everyone for your help!

 

You have VERY bad wheel bearings and must be replaced now. They are a bitch to change and must be pressed in so find a shop that knows how to do this. You will rack your brain trying to change yourself without a cutoff wheel and press. The chances of doing right in the drivway are slim. Also you have to torque the axle nut precisely for the new bearing to last. Use a torque wrench or tell your mechanic too; some like to just drive them on with impacts still! Dunbasses.

 

So if I just do that its going to fix all my problems? I never heard any noises from the bearing, only clunking like a cv joint. I am done throwing cash at this car so I really dont want to go through all that and have nothing change

 

This is how you check a wheel bearing. Push the top of the wheel in and pull the bottom out, then pull the top out and push the bottom in. Do that a few times.
There should be no play.


If the bearing is good and your axle is really the culprit, then maybe you got the wrong axle this time.
Not impossible if you got a remanufactured.
You might also start looking something into what is causing the failures.
Is your car lowered? Are you torquing the nut on to spec? etc.

 

New axles don't click or pop. Virtually impossible to get a bad one off the shelf. It would have had to been assembled wrong and I never saw one before. If it's rotational noise it pretty much HAS to be the bearing.

 

The axle holds the hub/wheel bearing assembly together. If the axle is not bolted in, the hub will spin freely and it will have play all the way around. The hub should have a small amount of rotational resistance after the axle is bolted in provided you are checking it with the brake rotor and wheel removed.

 

without reading any further, im going to guess your mounts and or subframe are bad. just a hunch...

doesnt sound anything to do with your axles... depending on the amount of clunk, could be bad balljoints, or related to my hunch above.

this *could* be a bearing issue.

you should have taken your hub ring off. its binding on that. or its just a completely wrong cv joint on the axle. this is not the source of your earlier issues.

 

this is actually a really inconclusive test of the wheel bearing. its a great way to diagnose bad ball joints tho.

you test bearings by rotating the wheel. if there is any roughness, the bearing is bad.

 

I have nothing to add to the thread for the OP, but I do have my own question.

If I cannot rotate the wheel easily by hand, would that be a bad wheel bearing? The driver side is much easier than passenger. I thought it was my axle, haven't replaced anything yet.

OP, it is probably not the axle if you have replaced it and seen no improvement.

 

interesting comment.
100% of all the manuals and reputable websites do the push pull test followed by rotation.
Personal experience on blown bearings have failed the push pull test and the rotation test.
I would suggest both - only because I've had questionable CV joints and transmission issues that could give roughness similar to the OP not knowing what's the culprit.

 

Okay so I finished replacing the axle, went to drive it and now it pulls extremely hard to the left when under power, and very slightly when not.

While I was in there I replaced both upper and lower control arms, with tie rod ends and got it aligned.

 

If your bearing is to the point where it is clicking then it is a **** hair away from catastrophic failure.

When it fails, your wheel will pop off.

This is a major safety issue for you and every other innocent person on the road.

Get it fixed ASAP.

 

It is not the wheel bearing, all clicking noise went away with the axle change, but it caused the pulling now. Just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with this and can tell me whether or not its the axle.

 

You need an alignment. Your previous alignment is no longer valid.

Did you take the hub ring off?

 

If you read my last post youll see I got it aligned after all of the work was done

You mean the abs ring on the axle? I got non abs axles.

 

No the hub ring....

And I'm telling you your alignment is bad. Get a new one.

 

Or wheel balancing. Just a thought.

 

An unbalanced wheel would cause a vibration, not a pull.

The only thing that can make a car pull one direction, is alignment.

 

It was just a thought. If the OP just got an alignment, I'm sure he would like to believe they did a decent job. I was giving him something to check. But I do agree, it would cause vibration.

OP, when you changed the axle you probably changed the alignment. You removed the lower ball joint to replace the axle, right? The axle was probably pushing on the knuckle or something when you got the alignment, and now it isn't. That would cause your pulling.

 

you seem to give a lot of your "thoughts".....

 

It's the internet.