How easy should the rear wheels turn?

[Johnfm]

Clearly if you jack up a rear wheel and turn it, you are turning the innards of the diff and the prop shaft.

How difficult should this be?

I note substantial resistance on my Plus 2.

So, either rear bearings are pants or the diff.

FAOD, I removed the rear pads to eliminate any binding of the brakes and the handbrake pads were free enough too.

So, diff or bearings?

[AHM]

You are moving 6 sealed ball bearings, 4 joints at their steepest angle, 3 gears, 2 seals, some oil, and the mass of the whole lot. So not exactly easy.

When the bearings are shot you can see the play in the shaft.

[UAB807F]

If you've got the intermediate shafts at full or part droop and are running with rubber doughnuts, I seem to recall that they made a significant resistance as they twisted round.

In my experience the differential itself makes lots of noise well before it's due for pensioning off. Wheel bearing noise can get lost in the general rumble but as has been said, you can usually spot free play well before they get to the seizing up stages.

Brian

[Johnfm]

Jacked up the car on the rear suspension - so no droop at all.

I think one of my rears was exhibiitng a small amount of runout on the disc - the resitance was variable and I could see the hand brake pads being moved slightly too and fro by the disc as I rotated the hub.

The other side, there was no apparent disc runout issue - just a lot of reistance to movement.

As said, there are lots of things to turn. It would be useful to know the expected 'normal' torque required to trun the rear wheel.

[rgh0]

I have never measured it but I would guess around 20 ft lbs. normally with the car in neutral and standard diff. The opposite wheel spins backward rather than the tail shaft rotate if you don't have a limited slip diff

cheers
Rohan

[Johnfm]

I have never measured it but I would guess around 20 ft lbs. normally with the car in neutral and standard diff. The opposite wheel spins backward rather than the tail shaft rotate if you don't have a limited slip diff

cheers
Rohan

Not if you only jack up one side...

Speaking of which - is it safe to jack up the rear centrally, jacking by the diff? Though I expect even if it was safe for the diff, the droop woudl stress the rubber donuts.

[AHM]

I have never measured it but I would guess around 20 ft lbs.

A very good guess Rohan - I am putting the rear brakes on the S4 today at full droop one wheel off, CVJ shafts, I could just get the torque wrench to click at 20 ft lbs if I jabbed it - 20 is the lowest setting.

[Chancer]

If you jack up one side only and have a plate type LSD then there will be considerable resistance, however this would be the same when tried on both sides.