1997 Rear wheel bearings & hub spacer

When popping out the rear wheel bearings on my 97 it seemed as though the hub spacer may be slightly too long. What leads me to believe this is before I removed the bearings it felt as though they were seized. Both were very hard to turn by hand. But once removed the wheel bearings spin freely. There was little space between the right and left bearings and the hub spacer. Could it be that if the hub spacer is too big/long that it will put too much pressure on the inner race causing it to bind or is it a normal phenomenon that when wheel bearings are installed they become harder to spin? Is the hub spacer even needed? What if you just used the foam and discarded the spacer? Is there any known wheel bearing improvements for the older wheels? Those hard to spin wheel bearings have got to suck up some H.P.

Thanks Ned. Anyone else have any wheel bearing info or tips?

Its interesting that on this (and all ) 97's the rear wheel bearings have a dust seal but the fronts do not. Just the sealed bearing sitting there exposed. I'm thinking that the usual practice of coating the axle with grease, especially near the bearing, may do more harm than good. As grease seeps out past the bearing it will only attract and hold dirt. Then when trying to wash it off water will be forced into the bearing. I just don't see a benefit. Conversely on the rears packing the dust seal with grease should help keep out moisture and dirt. I wonder what the engineers were thinking when they decided to omit the front dust seals?