Advice needed vs 71 Duster rear wheel bearing replacement

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Ken71Twister

Ken71Twister

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Still hanging on to my Duster (purchased in ‘71) but not driving a lot. Took it out recently and discovered that my right rear wheel bearing is noisy. I don’t recall ever servicing the differential or rear bearings. I’m assuming that I need to replace fluid and rear bearings. I’ve looked for an article or video describing how to do this - but have not found anything yet that seems to be specific to my car. Can someone please point me to an article that will help me to order the right parts and to know how to tackle the job?

My car is a ‘71 Duster that came with a 3-speed manual and 318 engine. The transmission was repaired many years ago but everything in the rear axle is original. FYI - I checked fluid in the differential and it was full. I put the rear of the car on jack stands and listened for noise while car ran in 3rd. The left rear sounds good. Right rear is making noise. The right rear wheel didn’t feel hot after I gave it a 20 mile run on the highway last week - so hopefully I’ve caught this early.
 
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Just LOOK at the axle. AND DOWNLOAD THAT MANUAL 8 3/4 has a 3rd member, you don't have a Dana 60 so the only other two possibilities are a 7 1/4 or 8 1/4. 8 1/4 has an "oval" cover with flat top and bottom, a 7 1/4 has a sort of "laid over pyramid" shape, see this

You won't have a 9 1/4 unless someone built one and swapped it in there

Mopar_rear_id.jpg
 
Thanks for the illustrations above. Mine is an 8 3/4" . The service manual that 340Demon72 gave a link to will be a gold mine. Thanks to all.
 
I have taken the right rear wheel down to this point and its not clear how to pull the bearings out. I’ve looked at the manual and didn’t see instructions on this step. A local auto shop guy said I could install an old rim and hammer the rim ‘till the bearings pulled out. Seems brutal. Can anyone suggest an “easy to makeA’ slide hammer arrangement that I could bolt to the lugs on the left and pull the bearings out? Is this the correct approach? Note: I determined earlier that I have the 8 3/4 inch differential and (I think) this means that I can’t remove a pin in the differential and pull out the axle. Am I correct that I need to pull the parts shown above to the left and the bearings, seals, etc will come out?
 
If you push in on the left one the right one should pop out. The spacer around the pin in the center will transfer the movement of the left axle moving in to make the right side break the stuck foam seals.
 
Grab the hub and pull it straight out. The bearing is captured on the axle.
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To replace them you will need to get the old ones off. They are pressed onto the axle. I have cut and cold chiseled the retainer and bearing body off but you will need a shop press to install the new bearings.
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Thanks! These seem to be great ideas. I look forward to getting out there and seeing what happens.
 
Ken71Twister said:
Thanks! These seem to be great ideas. I look forward to getting out there and seeing what happens.
Click to expand...

Once the retainer nuts are off (as I see you have done) the axle does take a good tug to get it out and the suggestion above re: using the brake drum backwards is a good one.

You need to understand these wheel bearings are NOT lubricated by differential fluid. The bearings are packed with wheel bearing grease and there is an inner grease seal (pressed in the axle housing) and an outer grease seal (floating with the retainer, on the axle before you press the new bearing on). Both of these will need replaced. Looking at your first picture, I'm guessing the inner seal failed allowing differential oil to contaminate the bearing grease and thinning it out. Then the outer seal having failed also, allowed this mixture to flow out onto the backing plate and axle flange.

Not having experience with this I strongly suggest you have a machine shop R & R the axle seal and bearing. Then inner seal needs to pulled out of the axle housing and a new one driven in square against the housing lip. Then care must be taken to not damage the inner seal by carefully installing the axle so it doesn't damage the inner seal lip.

Once this is completed you need to check the axle shaft end play and if necessary adjust it according to the manual. This is accomplished at the axle retainer on the right side.

I hope some of the above helps you understand the process and prevents some damage or a redo to your project and don't forget to check your manual along the way!
 
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Success! I gave the axle hub a few licks on the opposite side and saw some movement at the gasket and then used the brake drum to pull it out. Worked great. I have access to a Auto Hobby Shop on the Air Force Base that I live next to... so I’ll take this stuff over there after parts are cleaned up to get some advice and help vs pressing on new hardware. I’m guessing, based on 340Demon72’s post above that I still need to pull and replace a seal that’s still inside my axle.

Now I can quit thinking about this long enough to put some Christmas lights out around the house. I’ll do some more homework and take the next steps vs removing, inspecting, etc before buying new bearings and seals.
 
I miss read your first post and thought you were working on the left side. I see by the picture that you are working on the right side with the adjustable retainer. This is the side that will adjust the axle shaft end play when you are all done.

Those two shiny rings inside of the bearing is where the inner seal rides. Good work so far!
 
Bearings are off and axle looks ok to me. What did you see to indicate a problem with the axle? I was surprised to see that the bearing (Inner and outer race) didn’t have much or any visible damage. I’m sure I could hear some noise coming from the right rear wheel when running it on jack stands - but the bearing looked better than I expected.
 
I just checked and the only groove is a clean line at the tip of the screwdriver. The rest of the stuff you can’t feel.
 
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