I have an '04 X with the aluminum swing arm. I changed the skid plate to the Armadillo. This meant loosening the axle nut and pushing the axle to the sprocket side. Long story short. I just used a piece of brass and a hammer to tighten the axle nut. Is it possible to overtighten it? It seemed to spin just fine. Just wanted to make sure I'm not hurting the bearings.

 

yes it is possible to overtighten them...how i adjust it is run it up tight then back it off a turn or so untill the wheels move nice and free but still have no slack

 

It seemed as if tightening had not effect on how freely the wheels turned. No matter how tight the nut, the wheels spun free.

 

there is a special axle tightening tool. u have to preload the bearings to a certain torque then back off and torque them again to a lesser torque. can't remember the torques values..

 

Thanks for the reply. I guess my hammer and brass don't equal a " axle nut wrench" but it is all I have. I will back it off so as not to harm the bearings though.

 

hand tighten, then torque to 10 Newton/Meters Its not as tight as you would think.............. if you overtighten, the bearings have to much friction applied and will overheat/ burn quickly.

 

Just re-packed my bearings last weekend.
You are suppose to torque the nut with a special wrench (it only $20 from the dealer) to 90 foot pounds then back it off rotate the axle a few times then re-tourge it to 40-50 foot pound.

Then re-tighten the little locking bolt that goes threw the lock nut.

 

It sounds like you're talking about the older style lock nut. Mine has the clip that holds the lock nut in place not the one with the "split lock nut".