Hello, I am having problems with installing the rear wheel bearings on my 1985 300TD. I have everything intalled and was in the process of tightening the pin nut to crush sleeve when the hub tightened to the point of no movement in or out. I used my hands to turn the outside hub and wham it's so tight it will almost not turn by hand(also 0 movement in or out measured with DI with the pin socket removed. Some history, I removed the bearing because of noise(constant grating scraping sound 30mph and faster) and when I tore it down all bearings looked good with no signs of heat or damage? The axle shafts looked perfect during re-boot. The new bearing seemed to sound a bit dry when I pushed it into the race by hand(with grease). I double checked races were all the way in and did notice PO had scratched the race seats. Now I'm wondering if the seats have distorted the races causing the bearing noise and this "problem" tightening the pin nut. Before I decide which way to go I thought I might ask here for some ideas. Again, I have not put a wrench to the bearings and turned the hub by hand with the pin socked holding the nut. Could I have crused the sleeve by turning the flange by hand? Could scratches in the race seat distort the bearings? If I tighten the assembly more with a wrench will it all come together? Thanks for any ideas. Curt

Nothing a big hammer wouldn't fix. Got it.