is it possible your bearings are shot cuz u pressed them urself? I'm sure you know that bearings are very delicate parts. Granted they take a lot of punishment, but only in the direction and method that they are designed to do. IE spinning in a true line. I Just got my bearing pressed onto my axle by a pro, and even w/ a press, he ... it up. Now im back to square one with wheel wobble, AND the in out pull that you are speaking of.

 

I think anythings possible at this point.

Theres really no #'s or measurements to really say whether the bearing or case is worn even after it gets dissasembled.

but I'm not entirely sure I'd attribute wheel wobble to bearing wear. I said I thought it was the culprit when i replaced mine but it did nothing for wheel wobble. It was the differential that was the culprit.

... IToyota My wheel wobble vanished with a new differential but like i said earlier I can't remember if there was any in/out play so I wouldnt be so quick to say the mechanic messed stuff up, you might just be in the same situation I am but one step behind with a worn stock dif.

 

drew, how many miles did your diff have on it before you determined it was your diff that was worn.
And if you could, help me get this straight. You replaced ur wheel bearings thinking that would solve ur problem, but it didn't it turned out to be you diff. And you determined this how?
When you had your shafts out and bearings just replaced, do you remember the backing plate wobbling at all? That's what mine is doing... so thus i am inclined to think wheel bearing. Unless it is normal for this to happen.

Just to make sure we are clear, my brand new bearing is allowing the backing plate to wobble. The point at which the pivot motion is occuring is just beyond the inner race of the bearing but not further outward than the bearing seal.

How did you determine you diff was the culprit?
Did your/do your bearings wobble?
Thanks

 

I had a friends dad who's a mechanic of 30 years look at it. I told him what was happening, he said dif probably, came over and checked it out, took him a few seconds to get his hands on the tire and immediately said dif was worn, he's seen it before. I said ok lets tear the third out, so we did

yup, worn. It was real obvious once the diff was out, you could feel the play in the massive play in the side gear.

The backing plate shouldn't wobble under any circumstances. It's fixed to the bearing case by the 4 studs are driven through it that bolt to the axle housing.

If the backing plate is moving then the studs aren't driven through all the way. You can pull them through by just tightening the nuts once they're seated well enough.

I had around 180k on my differential when we replaced it.

 

hmmm maybe i mis-understood. You're talking about the backing plate moving when the shafts are out? as in sliding in/out and you can move the backing plate, or wobble it when the axle is on teh ground (standing on the wheel studs)

If thats what you're refering to, thats normal. It's not really that much play but there is some and thats typical.

But when the axle is in the the axle housing and the splined end is int eh dif, you shouldnt get any pivoting motion as then the axle is supportedon both ends.

If you can feel side to side or tilting (top of tire out, bottom tire in) motion.. like a lil tink tink tink feeling when you put one hand ontop of the tire and the other on the bottom and push in on the top, pull on the bottom.. Thats differential.

 

Well thanks a million. I've had at least three threads on my mystery waka waka. Some nar nars told me it was my u-joints, sure they were bad, but that wasn't where the sound was coming from. Either was it the wheel bearing. And now i got my third member off, and there is without a doubt worn bearings in there.
But here lies the important question to following in you footsteps and fixing this problem. What is my ring gear size? Everyone keeps asking me that same question and all i want are some bearings.

 

The carrier bearings probably aren't bad. It's the side gears in the differential itself that are probably lose. Check if they move other than spinning with your finger.

I dont have a picture to show you what im talking about but the carrier bearings are the two bearings OUTSIDE of the carrier. One on each side. Theres two covers with 2 bolts on each holding them in.

again, stick your fingers into that case that has the 3 ring gears and check the two side gears for play other than being able to spin.

edit*

heres a stock dif... see the gears inside? check the side ones for up/down movement

 

and you have an 8" ring gear

 

did your car make a waka waka waka sound while driving (especially clear during desceleration in nuetral)? Sort like pac man was following you around?

 

so your saying the gears are shot now, not the bearings? And i'm sopposed to look for play in the spider gears/ star gears ... the ones hiding within the pinion gear?

 

correct

The FSM calls them 'side gears' . There arent bearings that they spin on, they just spin the case holes i guess is one way to describe it. The gear oil in the axle housing lubricates them. The thrust washers wear out and then the rim they rid in begins to wear. IT's a chain reaction, one leads to the other.

I'm not going to attempt to be any expert on how it works but if theres play that you can feel that seems odd something aint right. Find the link to the '93 Factory Service manual top of this forum and look up the rear differential, it explains what backlash those side gears should have.

 

Well I guess im bringing this back from the dead. I've searched but didn't find a difintive answer.
I'm having the same in and out pull with the rear axle, no up down or side to side movement.

You mentioned that it was a wore out diff/ side gears causing your issue. Did you fix or replace the rear diff, if so, did it fix the in and out pull in the axle?

 

Worn out carrier and/or side gears do not contribute to in/out play at the wheel.

Any in/out play must be laid to wear of the axle bearing itself. Some small in/out play is normal, even with new high quality bearings.

If the play is 1/16 or less and the bearing feels smooth when turning the wheel, and there is no leaking gear oil, fogettaboutit.

 

Check the bolts arent backing out of the axle housing?

And no I didn't read the thread if it's been mentioned already.

 

Thanks for the reply, millball.
the reason I found the axle in/out play was because of some mysterious noise. Sounds like a worn out shock bottoming out, just not as loud. So I jumped up and down on the rear bumper as hard and fast as I could, no sound what do ever. Only happens when I hit bumps and sharp right turns giving it gas. When I pull on the axle, I hear that sound.

everything spins freely, no grinding or odd noise.
I did pull the axle and noticed the play I'm getting is the bearing sliding in the bearing case. The bearing, retainer and c clip are seated against each other.

I hope you're correct that a small amount of in/out play is normal. Really don't want to start throwing money in random ass parts. I guess drive it and give it hell...

Would a wore out bearing case cause excessive movement ?

 

Thanks for the reply, millball.
the reason I found the axle in/out play was because of some mysterious noise. Sounds like a worn out shock bottoming out, just not as loud. So I jumped up and down on the rear bumper as hard and fast as I could, no sound what do ever. Only happens when I hit bumps and sharp right turns giving it gas. When I pull on the axle, I hear that sound.

everything spins freely, no grinding or odd noise.
I did pull the axle and noticed the play I'm getting is the bearing sliding in the bearing case. The bearing, retainer and c clip are seated against each other.

I hope you're correct that a small amount of in/out play is normal. Really don't want to start throwing money in random ass parts. I guess drive it and give it hell...

Would a wore out bearing case cause excessive movement ?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked the bolts and they are nice and tight. I pulled the axle and the bearing is moving in the bearing case. Not sure if that's normal. Really don't want to throw Money at a problem that doesn't exist

 

Only replaced the rear wheel bearings once on my truck. The bearing was super tight going onto the axle shaft. But the wheel bearing tapped very easily out of the bearing housing. Never thought twice about it. Both sides have some in and out or axial play. Many other axle designs have some axial play too. C clip axles like the Ford 7.5 or 8.8 will have some play too. Totally normal and expected.

 

Thanks, arlindsay.
thats the census so far. So I'll just give it hell and see if it holds up.