Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart

Sounds like the rear axle bearing adjustment is now so tight that it overcomes the clamping pressure the axle nuts can provide. Why do I guess a nutted axle? Because when the cones and locknuts are not fully counter tightened against each other and then the wheel is installed and then the axle nuts are turned to tighten the wheel in the frame the axle can spin. This spin can cause one side's cone to either loosen away from the bearings or crush in towards the bearings, depending on which side 's outer nut is being turned. We see this frequently when both the locknuts and cones are not initially "locked" in place and when the person installing the wheel turns one side outer axle nut only. By snugging one nut down till the axle JUST begins to turn and then repeating on the other side, bit by bit one can increase the nuts' tightnesses while keeping the axle stationary. Andy

Originally Posted by Wilfred Laurier

No. You don't use torque to set the the bearing adjustment - you adjust the position of the cone by hand, using the feel of the bearings as a guide, then tighten the locknut against the cone to hold it in place when you think you have the bearings close to where you want them (no play or looseness, but easy and smooth when turned by hand.

Quick guide:

1. Use a 15mm cone wrench to hold the drive side (DS) cone in place and tighten the locknut into it with a 17mm open end wrench.
2. Hold the non drive side (NDS) cone with the cone wrench and loosen the locknut from the cone
3. Turn the cone by hand until the bearings feel nice and free and smooth
4. Hold the NDS cone with the cone wrench and Tighten the NDS locknut onto the cone
5. Spin the axle by hand to check if the bearings are smooth and without play
6. If play or tightness are felt, repeat steps 2-5. It may take a few tries before you have it perfect.

The advanced level of this procedure is to leave a tiny, almost imperceptible amount of play in the bearings, and tightening the quick release when you install the wheel will remove the play. If you can still feel some play in the bearings when the wheel is mounted in the frame, you need to go back and re-do steps 2-5.

Also, sometimes bearings get tight because the freehub body has worked itself loose from the hub. If the freehub body is loose, no amount of bearing adjustment will get the hub to work properly.