Hey fellows, need some advice...

 

I have a 1987 dual range 4wd gl that keeps chewing up rear, passenger side bearings. Rather than waste another $80 and 5 hours of my life I've decided to post in hopes that someone might be able to shed some light on the problem.

 

I removed the rear swing-arm six months ago when the bearing began making a grinding sound. I had the old bearing pressed out and a new, well packed bearing pressed in at a local shop. Well, it's bad again. Grinding, play, the whole nine yards.

 

My question: could it be that the axle is slightly bent and fragging the bearing? If it is, then it must be very slight because it makes no vibration at speed. Could it be the swing-arm? I went to the salvage yard to find a different swing-arm but had no luck (would have cost the price of a new bearing anyway plus the price of an alignment).

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Tide.

It may be a your hub got out of round and is eating your bearings.

I would try replacing the hub with a Junkyard replacement.

It's a cheaper solution than a new axle and if doesn't work you've got a spare

hub to play with!

 

Twitch

A couple more thoughts:

Poor quality bearing.

Bad rim/tire.

A couple more thoughts:

Poor quality bearing.

Bad rim/tire.

 

The tire is new, replaced after the bearing. Bad rim? I don't understand. Do you mean it could be out of round and somehow affecting the bearing?

 

Thanks for the reply...

My money is on improper installation. Monkeys with hydraulic presses are not to be trusted.

 

They should not be packed FULL of grease either. That just causes them to overheat. 1/3 full is where the bearings should run.

 

A bent stub shaft is highly unlikely but you can put a dial indicator on it and see.

 

Pull the old bearing out and inspect - see what kind of failure occured.

 

You don't need a press for this job. Just some careful work with a brass drift.

 

GD

My money is on improper installation. Monkeys with hydraulic presses are not to be trusted.

 

They should not be packed FULL of grease either. That just causes them to overheat. 1/3 full is where the bearings should run.

 

A bent stub shaft is highly unlikely but you can put a dial indicator on it and see.

 

Pull the old bearing out and inspect - see what kind of failure occured.

 

You don't need a press for this job. Just some careful work with a brass drift.

 

GD

 

Thanks for the tips GD. I didn't know you could hammer them in and out. Guess I should buy a set of drifts. Put the SA into the vise and hammer carefully, huh?

You can go to car quest and buy a bearing/seal installation kit. It comes with a driver and various sized heads to drive the old race out and the new one in. You can do the entire job with the SA on the car. Once you have the old race out you can see how the new one goes in. You drive it from outboard to inboard. A big help is to put the bearing race in the freezer overnight so that it contracts a bit and put a very small amount of antiseize on the hub to help with installation. Really. the hardest part is to get the lock ring off the inside of the SA, but that can be done with a punch and hammer.

 

Use a top quality bearing and you should be golden. I have done several and one even lives on Hatteras Island and is still going after 6 years.

 

Good luck.

You can go to car quest and buy a bearing/seal installation kit. It comes with a driver and various sized heads to drive the old race out and the new one in. You can do the entire job with the SA on the car. Once you have the old race out you can see how the new one goes in. You drive it from outboard to inboard. A big help is to put the bearing race in the freezer overnight so that it contracts a bit and put a very small amount of antiseize on the hub to help with installation. Really. the hardest part is to get the lock ring off the inside of the SA, but that can be done with a punch and hammer.

 

Use a top quality bearing and you should be golden. I have done several and one even lives on Hatteras Island and is still going after 6 years.

 

Good luck.

 

Didn't know about the kit, awesome! Thanks very much for the tips, guys. I hope to hit it up on my next day off, Probably Monday.

I don't even remove the trailing arm from the car. I just drift them out and in with the arm still attached - no need for an alignment that way.

 

I'm all about the quick and dirty (but doing the job right).

 

GD

I think installation glitch or a bad hub is the culprit. Hub can be hosed by the press. I'd go ahead and replace the hub with the bearings.

 

You can find a complete used rear assembly cheaper than the bearing job parts probably.

 

Some bearings used to come in packaging grease and needed cleaned before packing. Not sure which ones that applies to though.

The EA82 rear's dont have a pressed in hub - they have an axle "stub" that slips through the bearings like the EA series front axles. The bearings are typically either a sealed unit or they are timken bearings that need to be packed.

 

GD