Center hub axle (front hub) - need to be centered?

My front hub was making a weird cracking/crackling sound after riding it..got worse and worse..decided to just ride it slow until I got to the car. When I got home, and through the various YT videos, I took it apart, cleaned all the various parts, greased and repacked the bearings.

One thing I noticed was that the nut was more toward one end than the other. I don't have a cone wrench to take apart that end to make it even..so just left it the way it is. My question is that is it better to have the axle nut evenly spaced across the axle. When I say axle nut, I mean the nut that is on the outside of the cone nut..hope this makes sense. Ideally, If I had a cone wrench I would've loosened this end but I don't have one..can I leave it the way it is?

 

are you referring to an XT hub with the cup/cone bearings? I always adjusted mine to keep the brake rotor centered, but I think it's more important to have them tensioned enough to keep from getting excess wear.

 

Well, mine aren't XT, but a Shimano hub..it seems perhaps through riding, it has gotten moved to one side..thanks.

 

The rim is dished relative to the hub. The cones are not relevant to the dish as long as they are adjusted right. Having the cones to one side is a problem only if the drop out has little to hold onto in terms of axle.

im meticulous, I like it to be centered.