A Question about rear axel shims

[dave in australia]

Originally Posted by Ordsgt

I just put a shim in a club members left rear axle. It appears as the axle was fine but someone (unknown who) did not tighten the axle nut to 100 ftlbs and set it up like the front wheel bearings, tighten then back off and put cotter key in. This was found when I was changing a wheel out for him and noticed a lot of play in the drum. Tightening up the nut to 100 ftlbs made rubbing contact in the brake. The nut also went past the hole not allowing a cotter key. One axle shim from Snyders and everything was fine and nut tightened up properly allowing for cotter key. The other side did not need a shim and tightened up properly. From what I could see the axle was the same on both sides no wear noted or measured. The car still had original steel drums and I believe that was where the wear was. Advised owner to look into replacing the drums with new cast ones

I had the same issue with the RHS of my Tudor. I swapped from steel to cast drums, so a different hub, and found I no longer needed a shim. So it is not always the axle, sometimes it is the hub.