Ok, so I'm in the middle of going to the track/kick hybrid housing from TT...So I pulled my rear axle all apart:

- bearings seem OK...but how can I repack them without removing them from the axle?

- do I just remove those rubber seals from the bearing and pack it in there?

-If I do have to remove the retainer ring...how's that done?

- also...with the axles out of the stock housing...and looking in the end of the tube...there's the seal there, and behind it is this slotted ring. Should I try to remove this and press it into the hybrid housing...or shouldn't I care?

- haven't seen this setup before

thanks

The slotted ring behind the seal is there to protect the seal while sliding the axles in and out. Never heard of anyone packing the axle bearings? I assumed they were greased during assembly then sealed?

Originally posted by CSR
Never heard of anyone packing the axle bearings? I assumed they were greased during assembly then sealed?

The axle bearings come with just enough grease to say theyre "greased". If you frequent water and/or mud, you better get that bearing seal off and repack those puppies. I drilled and tapped 2 holes in each end of my axle in between the axle bearing and the axle seal. In one hole i put a grease fitting and the other a relief plug. Bearings last way way longer if you keep em greased. Besides, changin them is a pain in the ass.

Are the rear axle bearings not lubed with the oil in the diff??

Originally posted by AkDale
Are the rear axle bearings not lubed with the oil in the diff??

No, the seal is on the inner side of the bearing.

If I do have to remove the retainer ring...how's that done??

There is supposed to be a special three jaw puller that attaches to the bearing and the end of the axle shaft and pulls it off. I just use an anvil, large chisel, and big sledge. You can carefully beat the carp out of the retainer until it gets out-of-round enough that it slides off. Takes three to five decent swings. Don't miss though (have a freind that trusts you hold the chisel with a pair of parge chanel locks). Then you can gently wedge/pry/tap the bearing off with a large common screw driver and hammer. If you have things that far apart, be sure to open up your backing plates with a three-inch ole saw and use the SJ410 backing plate retainers. This is cheap and keeps you from having to disassemble the brakes to get your axles out in the future.

Rear axle Bearings are a sealed bearing not meant to be regreased if your takin them apart to grease them you might as well replace them if you dont get the seal correct and they do get contaminated there garbage and no they are not lubed by the gear oil.

If you mess with or damage the retainer...
It won't make the seal when reinserting the axle?!

What do I do about this?

To remove the retainer...won't it get damaged?
Is it pressed on there?

Originally posted by Titanium


The axle bearings come with just enough grease to say theyre "greased". If you frequent water and/or mud, you better get that bearing seal off and repack those puppies. I drilled and tapped 2 holes in each end of my axle in between the axle bearing and the axle seal. In one hole i put a grease fitting and the other a relief plug. Bearings last way way longer if you keep em greased. Besides, changin them is a pain in the ass.

I did the same thing on my 44's. Just give it a few pumps when I grease up the truck. :flipoff2:

Originally posted by Rockrat
Rear axle Bearings are a sealed bearing not meant to be regreased if your takin them apart to grease them you might as well replace

who says theyre not meant to be regreased ? At the cost of a bearing and retainer i think i'll take my chances and i dont change the bearings very often, repackin works !

Originally posted by slider
If you mess with or damage the retainer...
It won't make the seal when reinserting the axle?!

What do I do about this?

To remove the retainer...won't it get damaged?
Is it pressed on there?

Have fun destroying it and spend $5 and buy a new one :D . Seriously, a set with new seal, bearing, shim, and retainer is like $40 or so a side. The retainer is the cheapest piece. The only way I know to get it off without ruining it is to buy the special tool from the dealer or try to make one. That'll cost you a LOT more.

Originally posted by Titanium


who says theyre not meant to be regreased ? At the cost of a bearing and retainer i think i'll take my chances and i dont change the bearings very often, repackin works !
I am going to try this. Sounds like an excellent idea. One question though, do you replace the bearing seal after taking it off to re-pack the bearing?

Originally posted by Titanium


The axle bearings come with just enough grease to say theyre "greased". If you frequent water and/or mud, you better get that bearing seal off and repack those puppies. I drilled and tapped 2 holes in each end of my axle in between the axle bearing and the axle seal. In one hole i put a grease fitting and the other a relief plug. Bearings last way way longer if you keep em greased. Besides, changin them is a pain in the ass.


This sounds like a great idea. I've not heard of this before. I know that you probably wont take it apart just to take pics, but if you happen to have pics, I'd like to see how you did it. I've changed my bearings twice and don't care to do it any more often than necessary.

when doing the repacking mod...

did you remove the rubber from both sides of the bearing?...

so grease could pass through it?

or will this just cause grease slinging in the brakes?

Slider

OK guys, keep in mind this is a ZOOK diff. Before anything i took my scriber and marked a line on the axle horizantally where i wanted the fittings to be, this made it easy to make sure i had grease gun clearance. Then i used my dial calipers and scribed a line on the outside of the axle .675". I used a drill bit from a numbered set that measured .196". The next step is the simplest, go out and buy 45 degree M6 grease fittings and a plug for the other end. I just did this mod on my long wheel base and on my 80" trucks. Ive been greasing my bearings for quite a while but it was usually when i did my breaks and had the axles out, this one makes life easy. The seal on the retainer side of the bearing was removed and filed under G. If you have a steal seal on the bearing, use a knife to pry it apart and then just use some pliers and rip it off, it's only tin ! Leave the seal off the bearing permanently and keep it full of grease, here's the link to my site so you can have a look at it, happy tapping :flipoff2:

http://groups.msn.com/ZookPower/longwheelbaseproject.msnw

"If you have things that far apart, be sure to open up your backing plates with a three-inch ole saw and use the SJ410 backing plate retainers. This is cheap and keeps you from having to disassemble the brakes to get your axles out in the future."

If you make a hole in the backing plate to pass the axel without taking apart the brakes.....what holds the axel there after you put it back on? I agree this mod would save lots of time but I'm not sure the axels would stay on the truck...I like to keep them on while driving.

I've changed many of these bearings in the many zooks I've owned and I still curse like hell when I got to do it again........



'92 zook, SPOA, 31"boggers, stock every thing with motor missing piston number three...............oh and cow spots.

Originally posted by zukimoo


If you make a hole in the backing plate to pass the axel without taking apart the brakes.....what holds the axel there after you put it back on? I agree this mod would save lots of time but I'm not sure the axels would stay on the truck...I like to keep them on while driving.

I've changed many of these bearings in the many zooks I've owned and I still curse like hell when I got to do it again........


I never said anything bout the backing plate..... This is to AVOID having to pull those axles out, besides, takes 10 minutes to pull the axles, wtf ? :flipoff2:

Originally posted by zukimoo
If you make a hole in the backing plate to pass the axel without taking apart the brakes.....what holds the axel there after you put it back on?
Here is a link to what I am talking about. http://www.roadlessgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=RGL&Category_Code=DA The axles are held on with the same four little bolts that held them on before. This doesn't make the setup any weaker or stronger, just a lot easier to work with. This mod allows you to take the backing plate bolts loose and slip the axle out without disconnecting the brake lines, screwing with the brakes, and taking the backing plates off in order to pull the axles. A lot less work and no more bleading the brakes, all for only $21 :D

Go to rear disc if your gonna go thru the hassle off cutting up the backing plate, better brakes and less weight even, as well as not having to disconnect.