D1 driver side rear wheel/bearing issue

Ol'Drippy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
1,685
1
Chinoike Jigoku
Hello all, After an easy day of trail riding yesterday, I was coming out to the main road and heard a rubbing/scraping sound that was coming from the drivers side rear. It was only doing it on straight stretches and would go silent into the turns. Then we pulled out and hit the main asphalt road where it wasn't doing much of anything out of the ordinary besides squeeky brakes. Anyhow, took a hard right hand turn onto the entrance ramp of the interstate and it made a Very loud grinding sound. I thought perhaps it was just some debris under there so I crawled underneath and looked and saw nothing. I tried to shake the wheel back/forth and side/side to see if perhaps it was the wheel bearing but the wheel was quite secure. Proceeded to drive with caution and at about 50mph something felt like it broke loose (for lack of a better term) but from this point forward the truck felt back to its normal self and I made it home (though very slowly and cautiously). Anyhow, this morning there is diff fluid that has leaked down the back side of my right rear rim/tire and there is a small puddle beginning to form (it didn't leak before)

I've yet to investigate as I had to go to work and now just got home from the dentist. I'm guessing wheel bearing though? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.. Robert S (formerly rubisco98 on the old DWEB)
 

Robbie

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
1,463
1
NOVA
damn, just wrote a lengthy reply and it cancelled out on me. oh well.

anyway, only way to see if there is any damage to your bearings is to tear into there. definitely sounds like the seal is screwed up. Timken 37 is the bearing you want, should be able to get from Napa, etc. real easy to tear into, and just hope that your bearings didn't weld themself to the spindle and/or hub.

i replaced my right rear seal last weekend and repacked the bearings, and from taking the wheel off to replacing, was only about 45 minutes.
 

Ol'Drippy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
1,685
1
Chinoike Jigoku
Finally pulled the wheel, and yanked the brakes, and stub axle. Rotor flopping around and making a grinding sound. Wheel bearing it is. I need to try and locate a hub nut tool as my largest channel locks won't do the trick of removing the hub nut. Tips still welcomed as I'm new to the bearing replacement game. Adios.. RS
 

Steve

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
1,395
0
Eastern Shore of MD
Check your stub axle carefully. From the sound of it, you may have done enough damage to the surface to warrant replacement. I ended up with a bad sensor ring as well when I got into investigating.

I learned the hard way that a bad bearing doesn't always put "slop" in the wheel. The bearings can break loose of the ring and pieces wedge themselves in all kinds of positions. Its possible that this can take out any slack that should have been present.
 

Robbie

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
1,463
1
NOVA
for the hub nut, either track down a big enough socket (which is what i would recommend, so you can easily use a torque wrench) or order a hub nut socket thingie from one of the parts houses. if you have the manual, it walks you through dismantle and reassembly pretty well. the rear is pretty easy since there is no circlip or swivel to worry about.

i also bought a seal/bearing race driver set to help get the seal and bearing races in properly. probably not necessary, but figured might as well have the correct tools for the job.

oh, and definitely make sure there is no scarring of your stub axle like Steve said. if there is, and it is just light, you may be able to buff it out with some light grit paper.
 

discodriveradam

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
65
0
39
Sparta, TN
Hey Rob, how odd; I'm tackling the same thing you are right now!

Problem with mine is, I was preparing to put lockers in with HD shafts, and in the process, I figured out that my long side halfshaft wasn't coming out. Then I noticed that the whole hub assembly looked trashed. So I'm pretty bummed. But as soon as that shaft comes out, the Detroit is going in, along with a whole new hub assembly and HD axles, so let's hope I can figure out how to get that fucker out of there.
 

Lutzgaterr

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
578
0
LUTZ, Florida
I had my rear left, outside bearing, weld itself to stub axle. Took some mapgas heat and a good solid hit with a punch to crack the bearing and remove it by pieces. Afterwards, some help from a grinding stone to reshape the stub so I could remove the inner bearing and replace.
I have to ask why everyone is so concerned about the condition of the stub? The bearing interior has a race that slides onto the stub, so as long as the stub axle surface allows that bearing to fit consistently, and of course it locates properly on the stub depth-wise, it should be fine.
Yea, it can be ground back down to allow the bearing to slide back on, but I would say nicks, gouges on the stub are OK, just as long as the uniformity of the stub is consistent with increasing diameter from exterior towards interior, then don?t sweat it.
What readers should realize, like my post, is the level of perfection each person institutes within his or her answers. I can take the above replies and interpret these into a message stating that the stub must be perfect, else discard an renew. Well for me, this is not an option when I can grind and refurbish the stub versus dropping large $$.

Take this advice for what it?s worth. Some of us are perfectionists, nothing wrong with that, but there are alternatives that are equal in performance.
Yes, mine is a daily driver and it rides as good as when she was brand-new off the lot.