Have a 68 Mustang with a 289. Has four wheel drum brakes. Had to put a new front drum brake hub on it. So I sourced a new inner wheel seal. Put it together and the wheel will not tighten up. Pulled the passenger side off for a comparison. The inner seal is completely different. It's the original seal. Or I assume with only 68,800 miles on it. I am attaching pics of the new seal and the original one. Cannot find the original one anywhere.

 

I don't believe the inner seal could account for the bearings not tightening up. Can you lay both hubs side by side and compare the dimensions of the bearing races from front to back, and race diameters? The seal's rubber portion just needs to be the same diameter as the spindle to hold the grease in - and a good tight fit in the hub so it doesn't fall out.

 

Thank you for the reply. Sorry for the late response. I took the bearing housings and switched them from side to side. The one that was on the drivers side is brand new from Scott Drake. It fit perfectly on the passenger side. Which negated my original post. The bearing from the passenger side is now on the drivers side. It is the original piece and the one in the picture above. It went on the drivers side and would still move about an 1/8th of an inch. If I tightened the nut down all the way it won't move. Let enough roll. We replaced the bearing housing on the drivers side because it was seemed bent. Now I am wondering if the spindle is the bent piece.

 

It would take incredible force to bend a spindle. The rest of the Mustang would show evidence of that event. Have you tried running the adjuster nut down the threads with the hub off to see if there is damage to the threads that is keeping it from tightening to the desired point? When you say bent, do the bearings seem to get tight and loose as you rotate the hub around 360 degrees?

 

Ok, just a little clarification. When I said I switch bearings from side to side. I meant I undid the spindle nut and took bearing pack and drum and switched sides. Everything that was causing an issue originally on the drivers side did not make the issue on the passenger side. The passenger side, when swapped onto the drivers side started to show the issue. And yes, if I assemble it and tighten the nut where it needs to be, the wheel will drag a little and then free up when spun.

 

I understand what you did now, the only remaining piece of the rolling assembly on the driver's side is the spindle, and it still has a sticky spot, but the assembly that was on the driver's side is now on the passenger side and no longer has a sticky spot... I don't know if I would have thought to try that. I'm having a hard time envisioning the spindle causing intermittent tightening/loosening of the rotation. Have you rolled the adjuster on those brake shoes in a few turns to make sure that the shoes (also stayed with the driver's side spindle) are not making intermittent contact with the drum?

 

For now I am going to let it go and see what happens. Beginning to think it is the brake shoes.