Rear Wheel Bearing-Chevy Pickup

Can anyone let me know what is involved in replacing the drivers side rear wheel bearing on a 1993 Chevy Pickup-wt/1500-6 cyl-two wheel drive?

It is making a grinding noise-I pulled the brake drum and there is a very slight amount of axle fluid seeping past the seal-the axle is full-there is also a very slight amount of bright metal bits scattered about and where the shaft turns in the seal it does have a slight "bright" collar worn there. There is a slight amount of play in and out and also up and down.

If anyone has done this job-please advise, or perhaps there are some webpages with diagrams and instructions someone can point me to?

TIA,

Ben III snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net Lakeland, FL

Reply to
SharkHead
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"SharkHead" wrote in message news:nRxId.4037$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

More times than I can count. The rear cover has to come off the diff. The cross shaft retaining pin has to be removed. This is were it gets tricky, the pins some times break when you go to loosen them up. If this happens you have two choices, put the cover back on and take it somewhere. Or if you can get an 8 inch 2 arm gear puller, you can press the cross shaft out. You must press it AWAY from the retaining pin. If you press it towards the retaining pin, you risk chipping the carrier. No impact tool, use a breaker bar and socket, and when it gets very tight, sharply smack the "bolt" head of the puller. This will break the retaining pin on ether side of the cross shaft and it will then come out. Once the pin is out carefully turn drive shaft untill the cross shaft is angled down with just enough clearance to clear the housing. Slide the shaft out, do not turn the axle shafts after this as it will walk the spider gears out of place. Not a life and death thing, but a pain sometimes to get them in right. Push in on the axle you want to remove and then remove (if it doesn't fall off) the horse shoe shaped axle retainer from the splinned end, then slide the axle out. The seal pops out of the axle tube with a large screw driver, or a claw hammer works well too. To get the bearing out you need a slide hammer with a bearing puller. If there are any signs of wear on the axle, ie any groove worn, replace the axle shaft. Do not use one of those garbage offset axle savers many parts houses carry. They never last, the rollers in the bearing are half the size of stock, the seals always leak, and the axle has been damaged and weakened. Do not reuse the old studs if you have to replace the shaft, get new ones. A large socket, or a piece of black iron pipe with a cap on one end slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the axle tube can be used to drive the new bearing in. Pack it with bearing grease first. Then install the seal. pack the area between the seal and the bearing with bearing grease, and coat the seal lips and the axle shaft where the seal will ride with bearing grease. Slide the axle in as far as it will go. Put the retaining clip on the axle in the groove and push the axle out slightly. Install the cross shaft, and retaining pin. If the cross shaft show signs of wear replace it. Of course if the retaining pin broke you will have to replace the cross shaft and the retaining pin. Replace the brake shoes, clean the drums thoroughly to get all axle lube off and have them turned. Clean the backing plates, brake clean works well. Use moly lube sparingly where the shoes ride on the backing plates. Replace the hardware if more than 60,000 miles on the truck, hardware kits are cheap. Fill the rear diff with fresh lube. Re check the diff lube level in two or three days.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Hey, thanks for the info!

I have decided to take it to Central Florida Driveshaft--they are reasonable and the shop foreman says the job is no prob for them! It sounds like something I don't want to try-I need the truck, so I will play it safe!

Regards,

Ben III Lakeland, FL

Reply to
SharkHead

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