Axle nut question

What is the correct way to tighten the axle nut (jam nut) on a 300ex? I replaced my carrier and got everything back together but I'm not sure how much to tighten. How do you know if it's too loose?I appreciate the help.

[NVR2L8]

The 300EX uses the same procedure as the 400EX to tighten the axle nuts. Basically, you thread both nuts onto the axle towards the brake rotor until you're past the cutout for the stop ring, and then install the stop ring into the groove. Then turn the outer nut out until it contacts the ring--the torque on the outer nut against the stop ring is what draws everything together and removes any play you might have in the entire axle/bearing assembly. Although the Honda service manual says to torque the outer nut to 65 foot lbs, in my opinion that's too much and puts excessive side loads on the bearings.

I would tighten the outer nut just until you remove any play. Grab the ends of the axle and try to move it fore/aft and up/down, and if you feel it moving tighten the outer nut a little more. Hopefully you shouldn't have to tighten the outer nut too much to eliminate any play, and if you find yourself really reefing on the outer nut to eliminate the play, then you're tightening it too much. The key is to remove the play, yet still be able to turn the axle and have it rotate rather freely. It should be snug but not excessively tight...too tight and you'll notice that the axle is fairly hard to turn. This is due to side loading the bearings which in turn increases rolling resistance and decreases the life of the bearings. Lastly, once you get the outer nut where it should be, the inner nut it tightened against the outer nut to prevent it from loosening up. The manual states the inner nut receives 94 foot lbs of torque.

Thanks a lot for the reply, with your advice I got it all dialed in. Thanks again!

[cdalejef]

NVR2L8 ia right, most people make the mistake of over tightening the first nut to keep it form coming loose. This causes premature wear on the bearings. You need to clean the threads with brake cleaner or contact cleaner and use red loctite, tighten the first nut (wide one) down till everything just pulls together and there is no up and down movement of the axle. Then tighten down the jam nut (narrow one) hard agains the first nut using red loctite.