I am going to assume,,, that the wheel you are trying to use is equipped with bearings. Next, You will have to make contact with the races of the bearing and NOT the wheel when tightening the bolt. This may mean you will have to use small tubing or small washers on both sides of the bearing making sure they do not touch the wheel. Then use what ever you need to, to get the wheel in the right position to make contact with the chain. The bearings have to "races",,, one is next to the wheel and the other will ride on the shaft ( bolt or stud ) that you use for an axle. You only want to make contact with the race that is next to the shaft,,, not in the middle of the bearing or the race that is in contact with the wheel. Once you do this then you can tighten a nut to secure the bolt,washer,wheel,washer,then the nut. This is before you add washers or tubing or whatever to get the length needed to reach the bracket, (maybe all you will need is the nut), and then a nut on the outside to tighten the unit in place. It sounds like to me that you are just putting washers next to the wheel and cranking them tight, this only locks the wheel up. Hope this helps,,,
Papa