My '88 XJS has had a rather loud wheel noise that gets louder as speed is increased. So I've followed the advice I got on here and replaced bearings and seals in the left side hub since the noise seemed to be coming from the left side.
I took it for a drive afterward and the original noise is now less than half the noise that was previously heard. Next is to do the right side.
During my assembly on the shop press I made sure that my hub and flange were pressed together only to the point where it didn't make contact with the bearings and race and remained rather loose so that I could let the actual axle spindle pull the halves together using the original spacer. I verified that about .003" end play was there.
After all was assembled I took the original Timken bearings and cut the roller cage off so I could inspect the inner races for possible damage and verified the inner races and outer races had no damage at all, making me realize that the removed bearings were in good condition. And yet, when I drove it with the new bearings the noise doesn't come from the left side now.
Question, Not knowing the car's 92K mile history before about 2 months ago, is it possible that the bearings had been replaced before by someone who didn't understand that the final tightening of the axle spindle nut with the correct spacer installed is how one should pull the halves together? Seems to me that pressing the halves together on a press would press the inside taper bearing in too tight, making the shim behind it float in its position between the axle spindle shoulder and the inner bearing race. If that's the case, wouldn't too much pre-load on the bearings make this noise? I note that IF the inner race of the inside bearing didn't have a press fit on the flange that the bearings would have probably have pushed itself back up against it's spacer.

I'm getting ready to ditto the right hub now. ....