How to press on right rear axle bearing w Hydraulic press

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Ken71Twister

Ken71Twister

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Ready to press this on with hydraulic press. It appears that I should press the bearing and bearing retainer until bearing bottoms out agains the step/shoulder in the axle. I’m assuming that the retainer flange with adjuster will still be loose and can later be adjusted to eliminate most of the space between the bearing and the end of the axle shaft. Do I have this right?
 
Did you replace the outer grease seal in the adjuster?

The factory shop manual has a good blowup of the assy.

Mymopar.com has download
 
And to repeat for the bullionth and bullionth (Carl Sagan LOL) you can down load factory manuals for FREE from MyMopar. Several manuals over there came from the efforts of the guys on here DO NOT press on the outer race (cup.) Make sure you have some tool / collar that will press against the INNER race "the cone"---similar to what you will use to press on the retainer collar.
 
X2 on the outer grease seal. Get a good one. Don't over-pack the bearing w grease, it can overload the outer seal, then grease the shoes. BTDT.
 
I did replace the outer grease seal. I also downloaded the factory manual and it was very helpful. However, the manual was not dumbed down enough for me to know that I could press the bearing down ‘till it stopped. I attempted to press the bearing on yesterday without using the proper collar to place the load on the inner race .... snap! I’ll be sure to wear safety glasses next time. It shattered the inner race. I’ve done a lot of reading and study today and think I have a better handle on the process. I went to O’Reilly’s tonite to buy another bearing set and told them I’d screwed up and broke the first one. They said it was covered by the warranty anyway and they ordered me another one. Good for them. ..... as advised... I’ll try to not get carried away with the axle grease.
 
Warm the inner race in the oven untill it is just too warm to hold, and chill the axle first (put it in a deep freeze or outside in a snow bank). Put a little lube on the ID of the race and the shaft first, bearing grease will work fine. The temp differential will help it to go together nicely.
 
I would not even attempt this at home. I'd swallow the pride and take it to a machine shop...as I don't have a 5 ton press.
 
pishta said:
I would not even attempt this at home. I'd swallow the pride and take it to a machine shop...as I don't have a 5 ton press.
Click to expand...
I bought my press at Harbor Freight for a great price with coupon and its been invaluable. Pressed many bearings with it including chainsaws. I consider it a necessary tool to have.
 
Set it up like this in your press.[/QUOTE]
In the picture posted earlier by three wood the bearing has been pressed on first and it appears that the retainer is about to be pressed on. I was wondering if the bearing and retainer should be pressed on separately. If the bearing goes on first...it seems like less resistance for the press and less to remove if something goes wrong.

53712EFC-47A6-442C-8A4C-8E9B0A9FA6CE.jpeg
 
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I’m still learning how to use this site. I didn’t intend to include the picture of a busted bearing with my last comment but I don’t see a way to delete it. The picture I was referring to was in post #10.
 
Ken71Twister said:
Set it up like this in your press.
Click to expand...
In the picture posted earlier by three wood the bearing has been pressed on first and it appears that the retainer is about to be pressed on. I was wondering if the bearing and retainer should be pressed on separately. If the bearing goes on first...it seems like less resistance for the press and less to remove if something goes wrong.

View attachment 1715441048[/QUOTE]

Yes, press bearing on first...to the shoulder...then the collar. Make sure outer retainers are in correct orientation before pressing everything in place.

I believe I used a small iron pipe stub over the axle to press against the inner race.
 
threewood said:
In the picture posted earlier by three wood the bearing has been pressed on first and it appears that the retainer is about to be pressed on. I was wondering if the bearing and retainer should be pressed on separately. If the bearing goes on first...it seems like less resistance for the press and less to remove if something goes wrong.

View attachment 1715441048
Click to expand...

Yes, press bearing on first...to the shoulder...then the collar. Make sure outer retainers are in correct orientation before pressing everything in place.

I believe I used a small iron pipe stub over the axle to press against the inner race.[/QUOTE]
Thanks1
 
I pressed on a new bearing this week using a 55 Ton press. I expected the inner race to go further inside the outer rack. When I pulled the axle, the threaded adjuster was screwed in to the point that there was little or no thread showing. It takes almost all of the available threads on the adjuster to push the outer race against the inner race. The photo above shows that I have a couple of threads showing and there’s still about 1/8 inch of play between the inner and outer race. I have just enough thread to close this. I’m guessing that, with 55 Tons of pressure, the inner race must be down against the shoulder in the axle. Does this result look normal?
 
Uh..............................................confused

Screw the adjuster back out a ways, a substantial ways. Now with the axle sitting as in your photo, just pick up on the retainer and pull it up. You should be able to pull the retainer up enough that the race will sit against the cup, no? The button in the 3rd member pushes "out" on the axle, and the retainer is bolted into the housing. it does not need to contact as I "think" you just described, when sitting free

YOU DID??? I hope, install the outer seal? You have a service manual?
 
I did replace inner and outer seal. I’m not clear with your terms “button in the 3rd member”. Is this something in the differential? If I lift up on the retainer with the axle as shown in the picture - the race will press against the inner race/bearing assembly. I can turn the the adjuster a LOT and it will finally hold the outer race against the inner/race assembly. (Is this the “cup” you refer to?). I recall from reading that I will back the adjuster off some after everything is in place.

Sound right?
 
You should be fine. You set end play with both axles installed. The button is inside the rear differential and is contacted by the end of both axles. Bolt the axle flanges to to the housing and adjust the end play to specs with the adjuster. The pass side adjuster also sets end play on the driver side.
 
Ken71Twister said:
Thanks. I’ll reassemble the back right axle and brakes and move over to the left side
Click to expand...

I'm sensing you still don't know how the adjustment works. The adjuster has nothing to do with how far the bearing pushes on the axle. The adjuster controls the end play of both axles, which both contact a block in the differential. The adjuster moves the bearing cup on the passenger side (which is a interference slip fit in the axle tube) IN to take up clearance or OUT to increase clearance.

If the adjustment is too tight , you need to back off the adjuster and tug on the axle to move the right bearing cup back against the adjuster.

The proper end play for the axles is listed in the manual you downloaded. The bearing end play for both axles is controlled by the one adjuster and measure on the right side.

If you feel the left bearing is OK, there is no need to move over to the left side unless you wish to physically check it or replace the seals on that side!
 
I’ve never done this before and I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that the bearing cup is floating on the axle instead of being attached to the rest of the bearing. That said...I think I understand how the adjuster can be used to reduce the gap beside the cup. I’ll need to go back to the manual to see how the end play is measured and if I have access to what’s needed to measure this. The suggestion to leave the left rear bearing alone is tempting since I have no evidence that there’s any problem on that side. I’ll give that some thought.
 
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