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AAAHHHH!!! rear axle bearing!

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BowtieBlazer

Diesel Powered
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So how much can I leave on....I was thinking about leaving the tires on as well...well, maybe I will pull them off so that its easier to balance the shaft when reinstalling. I need to change the rear axle bearings and seals. Who can give me a run down of whats entailed?

UPDATE ** This sucker will not come out. I have blow torched it lightly with a plumber's torch. Slide Hammered it with no luck. Hammered the hell out of it with a screw driver. Tried to pry it out with a crow bar with no luck. Dremel tool is difficult to fit in this area and I am scraed to screw something up. Idea's PLEASE!!!!!
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

The seals on the side? Piece of cake if thats it. Jack up the rear and take off both tires and brakes drum. Taking out all of the brake guts makes things easier. Pop off your diff cover and make sure to have a drain pan. Hose the inside out with Brake Clean to make sure things aren't all nasty. Rotate your carrier (big metal thingy with those four little gears inside) around and look for a little bolt head stick out. Undo that bolt which holds this long pin that runs through the middle of the carrier. You may have to so some rotating to able for the pin to come out, but its not hard. Once the pin is out, don't rotate it any more or your spider gears will fall out.

Then get up off the ground and go around to the outside of your axles and push in. Go back and look inside the differential, the axles will have moved in a pinch and the little clips that held them in will come off (have the open ends pointing toward you when you reinstall them). Now pull your axles out. Still with me? Now comes the fun. Screwdrivers, prybars, hammer and chizel, whatever you got you can use to pull the seals out. Now comes the fun, the bearings. You can get a tool with a curved end to pop them out. If they are really stubborn, then i just liquify em with a torch and pull them out. Well not liquid, but glowing red. Don't hit the air on the torch, just a nice slow heat on the bearing assembly until the are soft.

Clean everything out good and put in your new bearings. Besure to pack them and grease the sides so it goes in easy. A block of wood and a hammer works best to do this job. Same goes for the seal, but a little silicone on the outside helps to give a good seal.

While you are at it, inspect where the axle rides on the bearings for smoothness and the splines on the axles. If there is excessive slop, then you may need to get different axles and spider gears. Be sure to use 80w-90 gear lube in the rear too.
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

man running into hell removing the bearing....tried crowbar, slide hammer, multiple other methods....its still in there....Guess I will have to cut it out...Any other suggestions?
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

I had the same deal ! /forums/images/icons/mad.gif I hope you access to a torch. Maybe you could use one of those little portable plumbing torches. Doesn't take intense heat, just a nice slow steady heat to soften things up. Heat make things expand, so it has to nice and soft so you can yank it. I bet if you got one chunk of it to come out then you could smack it so it closes the gap you just made and kinda make the bearing come loose.
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

Rear wheel bearing removal 101.

Slide-hammer. It's tuff but almost allways works, I've only had one that needed to go to step two (out- of a-dozen or so). Some-times the bearing will get cocked side-ways, if so, reset the slide-hammer to pull it evenly. Also, if the bearing is cocked, try tapping it back in, so it is even. Rotate the slide-hammer-bearing puller after each blow.

At this stage, the roller bearings should be smashed out of the cage. If not, remove them some how.
- Stuff the axle tube with a rag.
- Cut the bearing race, use a die-grinder/file or hack-saw. DO-NOT cut all the way through it, the race is hardend and will split without going all the way through, just cut enuff to give the race a weak-spot. Be very carfull not to damage the axle tube.
- Return to step one, use the slide-hammer. This should split the race. If not, use a chisel and hammer to split the race, and remove with the slide-hammer.

After removal, inspect the axle tube for damage, remove any raised section or burrs. Also, inspect the axles seal area and again, remove ant burrs.

How does the axle shaft look, any grooves or pitts? If so, replace the shaft, as it has worn though the hardening.
 
I had the same problem with my wheel bearings when I was using a two arm slide hammer. I went back to the rental place and got the three arm slide hammer and had the bearing out in about 5 pulls. I must have spent half an hour of constant slamming with that stupid two arm hammer not getting anywhere. Came out easy as pie with the 3 arm. Hope this helps.
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

I have tried the three and two prongslide hammer with no luck...keeps on cracking the out side of the races off. Now i can barely even brab onto anypart of the bearing.
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

I went ahead and made sacrifices and used the dremel trying my best not to gouge the axle tube too deep. I cut the races just enough and then hit it with a crowbar and hammer and broke the race it then easily came out of the tube. I came away fairly happy with little scoring to the tube which I then sanded with the dremel. Thanks for all the help. I think day light and being able to see with real light eases the stress level as well. On to my next project...
Thanks for all the help!
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

Pretty neat trick, isn't it?

Glad it worked out O.K. for you.
 
Re: Its that time..change the rear axle seal!

i know it is a little late, but just read your problem.
i changed both of mine 2 weeks back when installing new rear axles, and i used a 6-7' long piece of 1" pipe and slid it all the way from one side to the other, and just tapped on it with a dead hit hammer, and moved it around a little as i tapped. and both sides came right out. also i just took off the wheels and drums, and pulled the c-clips and slid the axles out and used the old shaft to remove the the oil seal.
sorry it was late.
have not been online in a few days
chris
 
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