Rear axle shims

[wilcor]

Have a wheel-frequency noise that appears to be coming from the rear end. Lifted the car ('74 Thing) and found that I had some slack behind the castellated nut on the stub axle. Pulled everything apart to check stuff, and all the right pieces seemed to be in the right places and in good shape ... but. When I reassembled, I couldn't tighten the big nut without binding up the wheel/drum. Appears to be rubbing against the brake backing plate (which would surely account for the noise. Or, at least, a noise).

I had some shims (what I assume are shims) of axle diameter from bearing seal kits and from various disassemblies. Put a bunch of them on the axle (outside the outer spacer, inside the seal) and still couldn't solve the problem.

And then went shopping online for axle shims, and couldn't find them anywhere.

Am I looking for the wrong thing (rear axle shim)? And/r am I barking up the wrong tree?

Checked the forum for axle shims but found only glancing and mysterious references.

Appreciate any help I can get. Just quieted my exhaust system, so the noise is making me nuts. More nuts.

[doublecanister]

I've not heard of the exact issue you're experiencing but it almost sounds like
something could be worn or some incorrect part or something missing to make the drum hit against the backing (thus needing shims).

Take a look at this:https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/thing_parts_manual.php
not sure if you have the parts manual but download it and
and go to page 94 of the PDF, maybe you can spot the part/culprit that would cause the reason to make it require shims?

hope it helps maybe someone else will chime in with a better suggestion?
Good luck with it, please keep us updated.


I had fun with mine when first purchased, had a spun bearing in the driver side rear, installed new cv's and new wheel bearings still had way too much play, Ended up the bearing seat was too large, due to a previous spun bearing, so I ended up having to replace the trailing arm.
That fixed the slop in the drivers rear for sure. Before it had a lot of up and down wheel play when the THING was jacked up.

T
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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[wilcor]

Thanks for the quick response. In the end, it may boil down to replacing a bunch of worn and ancient pieces. This was not a running chassis when I started the now-complete (except for this kind of fine-tuning) restoration, so this may well have been a pre-existing condition.

I have the parts breakout and just about every other conceivable Thing and VW reference. As far as I can tell, all the right pieces are in the right places. Shims don't show up anywhere except in those seal kits, a couple of cars I've disassembled and a few fleeting references in old forum posts.

[rockerarm]

Hi.
You are probably correct with having some worn parts.
With everything apart and laid out you can see that the large nut will everything tight against the stub axle and I have seen where a part has worn and allow the nut to possibly be tightened but loosens up in time.
You may want to have the other side disassembled and cleaned and begin comparing/measuring to see where your particular issue is.
I suppose a dedicated washer/spacer would allow give you sometime to be able to move the car til the issue is sorted out and the needed parts gathered.
Hope this helps, Bill.