JeepNaked
New member
Thought I would share with you all my adventure. I am a noob as far as mechanics go, so any insightful and constructive critisizm is welcome. If you see something im doing wrong, please dont just tell me, tell me why, and what i should have done or could have done different or easier. Enjoy! :-D
So i installed a new carrier in my rear diff a few weeks ago, and upon re-installing the driver side axle shaft managed to somehow tweak the seal. This resulted in a nasty smell, messy diff fluid flung everywhere by the tire, and an absolutly shredded bearing. I wish i could have gotten more pics of the whole process, but it never occurs to me, and when it does its at weird moments, or when i need to remember how something is set up or needs to be placed.
This is the website I referenced while doing this little project; http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/d44/d44-1.htm
I started, of course, by putting the rear on jackstands, and removing the tire. I then removed the two bolts holding the break caliper on, set that as snug as the brake allowed and put the two bolts in a safe place. To remove the disk brake, there were two washer-like retainers on the lug bolt that needed to be removed. I pried up the little ears that keep it on with a flat tip screw driver, and set both aside to be re-used. After that, simply pull off the disk and set it aside. Next, i removed the 4 nuts holding the retaining plate that keeps the axle in (sorry, not as familiar with part names as i probably should be). Those are accessed through a hole in between the lug bolts. Set the nuts aside, and now remove the axle by sliding it out.
The first pic is what my bearing looked like when i removed the axle shaft. Bearings actually dropped out of the cage. Yikes right. The cage was mangled, some of the cage bearing seperator bars were gone, or almost gone. It was bad. O! Not to mention the 4 nuts the hold that retaining plate on were finger loose (counts blessings). So i got to it, drilled a hole in the bearing retainer ring, and used a dremel to score accross the hole, and as described in stu's process, it cracked open without a cold chisel. I did use a cold chisel to pry it open, then carefully tapped it down the shaft with a hammer. After that, i cut off the bearing layer by layer, being particularly careful on the race (i checked after every pass, every pass being of very minimal cutting pressure). When i deemed the cut deep enough, one whack with the cold chisel and it snapped apart. Again, prying it open with the chisel, i slid it off the axle shaft. I took a couple pics of the shaft after all this was done, to make sure that the seal would be replaced the correct way. Since i do not have a press, i took my new bearing (i believe it was a master pro bearing, i know i know, curses for buying cheap chinese parts. Cheap being the winning keyword), bearing retainer ring and new axle tube seal to a local mechanic who pressed it on for 20 bucks. While that was being done I took a dremel to the old bearing race that was still in the axle housing using the same precautions as i did with the one that was on the axle shaft (4th picture) It didnt split like the others, probably because the pressure was directed in rather than out, but just the score was enough that it lossened enough to be slowly pried with a regular hammer. I covered the hammer with a sock to prevent metal on metal contact while prying to minimize damge to the axle housing. Worked pretty well too. I used a sock stuffed into the axle housing to prevent the shavings from flying down into my differential housing as well. After the race was pulled out, i cleaned and cleaned again. I picked up my axle, and placed it into the housing and pushed it in. Now unlike the old bearings, the new the housing-side bearing race was part of the whole bearing assembly, so when it got down to it, i tapped it in (gently) with a 10 lb sledge hammer (with a sock covering it). Gently. It seated very well and when i was satisfied, i installed the nuts for the retainer plate, torqued em down, put the brake disc on, flattened the old washer-like retainer clips with a hammer and pressed em on with a deep socket that fit over the lug bolt. I then put the caliper back on, put the bolts in, torqued em down, and then put the tire back on. Viola.
So i installed a new carrier in my rear diff a few weeks ago, and upon re-installing the driver side axle shaft managed to somehow tweak the seal. This resulted in a nasty smell, messy diff fluid flung everywhere by the tire, and an absolutly shredded bearing. I wish i could have gotten more pics of the whole process, but it never occurs to me, and when it does its at weird moments, or when i need to remember how something is set up or needs to be placed.
This is the website I referenced while doing this little project; http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/d44/d44-1.htm
I started, of course, by putting the rear on jackstands, and removing the tire. I then removed the two bolts holding the break caliper on, set that as snug as the brake allowed and put the two bolts in a safe place. To remove the disk brake, there were two washer-like retainers on the lug bolt that needed to be removed. I pried up the little ears that keep it on with a flat tip screw driver, and set both aside to be re-used. After that, simply pull off the disk and set it aside. Next, i removed the 4 nuts holding the retaining plate that keeps the axle in (sorry, not as familiar with part names as i probably should be). Those are accessed through a hole in between the lug bolts. Set the nuts aside, and now remove the axle by sliding it out.
The first pic is what my bearing looked like when i removed the axle shaft. Bearings actually dropped out of the cage. Yikes right. The cage was mangled, some of the cage bearing seperator bars were gone, or almost gone. It was bad. O! Not to mention the 4 nuts the hold that retaining plate on were finger loose (counts blessings). So i got to it, drilled a hole in the bearing retainer ring, and used a dremel to score accross the hole, and as described in stu's process, it cracked open without a cold chisel. I did use a cold chisel to pry it open, then carefully tapped it down the shaft with a hammer. After that, i cut off the bearing layer by layer, being particularly careful on the race (i checked after every pass, every pass being of very minimal cutting pressure). When i deemed the cut deep enough, one whack with the cold chisel and it snapped apart. Again, prying it open with the chisel, i slid it off the axle shaft. I took a couple pics of the shaft after all this was done, to make sure that the seal would be replaced the correct way. Since i do not have a press, i took my new bearing (i believe it was a master pro bearing, i know i know, curses for buying cheap chinese parts. Cheap being the winning keyword), bearing retainer ring and new axle tube seal to a local mechanic who pressed it on for 20 bucks. While that was being done I took a dremel to the old bearing race that was still in the axle housing using the same precautions as i did with the one that was on the axle shaft (4th picture) It didnt split like the others, probably because the pressure was directed in rather than out, but just the score was enough that it lossened enough to be slowly pried with a regular hammer. I covered the hammer with a sock to prevent metal on metal contact while prying to minimize damge to the axle housing. Worked pretty well too. I used a sock stuffed into the axle housing to prevent the shavings from flying down into my differential housing as well. After the race was pulled out, i cleaned and cleaned again. I picked up my axle, and placed it into the housing and pushed it in. Now unlike the old bearings, the new the housing-side bearing race was part of the whole bearing assembly, so when it got down to it, i tapped it in (gently) with a 10 lb sledge hammer (with a sock covering it). Gently. It seated very well and when i was satisfied, i installed the nuts for the retainer plate, torqued em down, put the brake disc on, flattened the old washer-like retainer clips with a hammer and pressed em on with a deep socket that fit over the lug bolt. I then put the caliper back on, put the bolts in, torqued em down, and then put the tire back on. Viola.
