Originally posted by futureal
If you spin a drive train with the wheels on and it rotates on its own and "glides" to a stop, it is free. You can do a ton of work to get it more free than that, but getting it to that initial point is the most important.
If you spin the drivetrain and it seems to suddenly stop instead of gradually stopping, or if it is difficult to "roll" the spur gear with your finger, then there is something wrong and it needs to be freed up.
I agree with what you said here... but, what kind of work we can do more on the drive train to make it as free as it can...