Titan hub bearing diagnosis

Titan owner: Just to make sure before I start buying things, could [bad] wheel hubs cause an axle to not spin freely.

Intelligent Tinkering: Assuming you are talking about front hubs on a 4WD, no. The hub bearing might though. These bearings are hard to test by feel because you can't spin them without also spinning both CV axles and the diff. There's no free running hub. The diff turns all the time when the wheels turn even in 2WD. With both wheels off the ground and the car in 2WD, you can spin one wheel forward and the other will go backward and you can try to get a feel of the bearing, but it's not as easy to decide if its bad as it would be with a 2WD, rear wheel drive vehicle. You will likely have to take it apart anyway to replace whatever is making it spin poorly, so just do so. You can do this by just removing the bearing assembly as in the YouTube vid below or by taking the whole steering yoke off. I would do the latter because it gives you access to other components that need to be inspected and likely replaced, such as the CV, balls joints, tie rods, etc. It will take about two-three hours the first time you strip it down but you can do it in 45 minutes with practice. You'll want a good pneumatic impact with lots of rated torque (or you'll need to be the proverbial 500 lb gorilla). Take the yoke assembly off (by removing the ABS hex bolt and sensor, the big axle/CV nut, caliper, disc, strut top and bottom, sway link top, tie rod end, lower pinch bolt and upper ball joint, and then put the whole thing in a vise and stick your fingers inside the bearing and see what it feels like. Then take the CV joint off and manipulate that too to see if it is causing your rough spinning. The CV joints are not expensive. The bearing assemblies are more expensive but can usually be replaced by cracking them with a hammer so you don't (usually) need a press. Pay close attention to the torque loadings on reassembly, especially the caliper bolts, which need something like 140 lbs feet. A little locktitie on these doesn't hurt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhUMwy5JD0