Rear Axle bearings pressed?

[slowmod'01]

I have searched both the web and these forums up and down and cannot find an answer to my question. Are the rear axle shaft bearings pressed on to the shaft? If so is there any magical trick to getting the old off and new ones on or am i at the liberty of the local shops?

Thanks

 

[gijoecam]

No, they're pressed (or size-for-size) in the axle housing. The shaft slips right through them (if everything is sized properly).

-Joe

 

[slowmod'01]

cool, that should make it a bit easier.. anything special required to pull them out of the housing?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I just went through that- you must have a slide hammer with a three jaw puller to remove the old axle bearings. I tried without one for hours, with no success. Got a slide hammer and puller set from AZ and had them out in 15 minutes. You can pry the bearing cage off and remove the bearings from the race, it will help the puller get a better grip.

I used the old race and a hammer to tap in the new bearings and seals.

 

[slowmod'01]

Ok, that should not be a problem.. one final question, i have the trak-lock, to pull the c-clips do i need to remove anything out of the diff?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

You have to pull the center pin, then push the axle shafts in. The center pin has a bolt on one side of the carrier holding it in.

 

[gijoecam]

Ditto on both counts. (Tried to reply this morning, but the computer crashed LOL!!) The slide hammer/puller from AZ makes short work of the job. Any other method will have you fighting it for hours!

And ditto on the shafts. Just like any other 8.8.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

The slide hammer/puller from AZ makes short work of the job. Any other method will have you fighting it for hours!

Tell me about it, I learned the hard way.

 

[calisoundmix]

i'm doing this job next weekend but just wanted to check if there is a specific type of slide hammer with 3 jaw puller that i need to get, or is it a universal tool?

thanks

 

[gijoecam]

It's got to be capable of removing internal bearings, that's all. If you ask them for an axle shaft bearing puller, it should be a 3-jaw, internal puller with a slide hammer attachment on it... They're pretty standard...

 

[calisoundmix]

awesome thanks joe, just wanted to make sure i didn't have to make a second trip.

 

[techieman33]

You can also pick one up at harbor freight for about $20, it's the same thing Jtsmith and I rented from O'reilly's, it just doesn't have the fancy plastic case. They wanted a $200 deposit though

 

[calisoundmix]

since the clerk was utterly clueless (pretty much read off of their display) and i don't want to have to go in tomorrow, does the attached picture have everything i need?

it is a standard "Slide Hammer, 2/3 Jaw puller set. OEM #27026.

It seems to be the right one, he says you can just flip the jaws around, will there be a clearance issue inside the axle or no?

thanks again.

 

[gijoecam]

That would be it... IIRC, both the round 'nut' and the three-legged piece that the fingers attach to will be threaded. You may need to play around with the positions of them, as the 'nut' is used to force the fingers outward and hold them up inside the bore of the bearing... make sense?

 

[Turdle]

I just had the pleasure of doing both front and rear axles using the above tool.

 

[calisoundmix]

thanks or the replies guys, it does make sense joe but unfortunatly the damn pinion pressue bolt (i think) got rounded off so we couldn't remove the axles to change the bearings, it was more proactive then necessary at the time maintence so i guess i'll just have to wait till they go bad and take it in. we still overhauled the rear brakes though.

thanks again