14-bolt wheel bearings

[sta500666]

I just got a set of axles (14-bolt and Front dana 44) froma 1979 pick up with about 65,000 miles on it. Should I replace the wheel bearings??? I am going to replace the pinion seals because they leak, but I just don't know about the bearings.

 

[mechted]

after having done 4 axles worth of this, i think the only answer is to open it up, clean and check EVERYTHING. Replace anything that shows wear, and call it good.

Personally, i assumed that the bearings had never been changed, and so I did every bearing on D60 (regeared it too), when I did the 14b, I opened it up and checked carrier/pinion bearings, but left them in there, wheel bearings = all new. The only way to know that its put together right is to start from scratch.

 

[sta500666]

yeah for sure, I dont think I'm ganna mess with regrearing yet, so I'll leave those bearings alone... I think 3.73 ratio will be fine with my 33'' tires for now. thanks for the input!

 

[sta500666]

btw is there any way to tell if I have a factory limited slip in my 14-bolt?

 

[dremu]

Count the big holes in the diff carrier ... four holes at 90* intervals is the open diff, three holes at 120* is the gov-lock.

Or post up a pic.

-- A

 

[mechted]

yeah for sure, I dont think I'm ganna mess with regrearing yet, so I'll leave those bearings alone... I think 3.73 ratio will be fine with my 33'' tires for now. thanks for the input!

ehhh... 33's are a little big for 3.73, 4.10 would do fine, but i dunno...
it should drive ok, just dont expect to floor it and break the tires free unless you are pushing ~300 HP

for the carrier, i would still check the bearings, its not that hard on 14b, you can count the rotations of the bearing cups and get it reset to the correct position after you dissasemble. Pinion bearings can be a pain to check, you have to pull the pinion housing, but you'll probably already do that to do the seal.

Read up in the 14bolt bible over on pirate, lots of good info in there.

 

[sta500666]

Read up in the 14bolt bible over on pirate, lots of good info in there.

Whats pirate haha? And I read on a post here that 3.73 will work fine with 33'' but just wont be the coolest ratio in the world... Eventually I will change all that stuff. I'm just cleaning them all up to look good.

 

[gmc4cw]

www.pirate4x4.com/forum/

its mostly a hardcore rock crawling site. there are a lot of jerks over there. don't ask any dumb questions, you will just get over run by idiots that think they are to good to help out someone new to the sport.

there is some good tech and some good people but for the most part it is not the friendliest place.

 

[dremu]

www.pirate4x4.com/forum/

its mostly a hardcore rock crawling site. there are a lot of jerks over there. don't ask any dumb questions, you will just get over run by idiots that think they are to good to help out someone new to the sport.

there is some good tech and some good people but for the most part it is not the friendliest place.

Don't ask questions, as ANY question is a dumb question there.

The tech stuff ... i.e.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/14b_bible/index.html

is in

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/

-- A

 

[sta500666]

thanks! and im good at asking dumb questions haha so thanks for the warning too!!

 

[8_YOUR_H2]

Ames huh? Are you a cyclone then?

I pull the hubs apart and check the bearings before you replace them because it is expensive to replace all 4! If it's not broke don't fix it.