Rear axle bearing service interval ?

What is a normal service interval for the rear axle bearings of 3rd gen trucks ? I can't find anything on the Internet or this forum. Thanks.

Sven

 

The rear wheel bearings are lubricated with differential oil. When you change the differential oil, you are changing the oil that lubricates the wheel bearings. The manual says to repack the bearings if disassembled.

 

Never, until it fails which is extremely rare, don't touch that unit.

 

No service interval, but there is a procedure for service. I've done that recently aswell...... If something does fail it'll most likely be the inner most seal which is a two piece rotating design. Mine was leaking on my rear passenger and it contaminated my brake shoes rendering my parking brake useless.

Excerpts below are from the 03 FSM, You do need specialized tools for this job but I'd rather do both my rear hubs (bearings, races, seals) again than a set of front OEM unit bearings that have never been off.

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Touch all of that unit.....

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There is a procedure for REMOVAL & REPLACEMENT.

As Ozy said, there’s no MAINTENANCE or SERVICE Interval for the bearing. Lubricating fluid is the rear axle fluid and there is no adjustment required unless it has to be replaced.

 

The owners manual recommends re-greasing the bearings any time the hub or rotor is removed. I'm not going to get into a protracted discussion but I feel that anyone that thinks the axle lube lubricates the bearings is probably fooling themselves.

The nominal level for fluid is 1/4 inch below the bottom of the fill hole, the minimum level is 1/2 inch below the hole, and of course, the bottom of the hole is the maximum level. The bottom of the hole is below the axle tube and add the thickness of the tube, then the thickness of the material to get to the hole in the middle of the spindle the axle shaft barely fits thru, and the fluid has to climb over an inch and a half (and travel a couple of feet outward) to find its way thru the spindle. Couple that to the fact that the fluid level drops a lot when the differential is turning (as in going down the road) and the fact that any fluid at all might reach inside the bearing area is a wonder.

If you want to see how the fluid reacts when the ring gear is turning, watch the Banks videos on their "Diff Cover" development. The fluid goes way down as most of it is in circulation around the ring gear and being funneled into the area between the two pinion bearings. A little finds its way to the two carrier bearings.



Charles

 

If it spins fast and doesn't burn up it must be getting lube, for a problem free, very low failure rate system such as the rear axle, I'd say AAM engineers are doing alright. Chrysler should take notes about things that spin at high speeds with load, never too late to stop throwing cupcakes at the wall with their automatic transmissions.

I can post pictures of my old OEM Timken bearings and races if anyone's interested, I can almost guarantee my rear diff fluid wasn't changed at the rec. service intervals across the 4 owners before I bought it at 207K. Besides my leaking seals, no issues.

 

Exactly… without lube it wouldn’t last 10 miles.

 

The owners manual says nothing about greasing wheel bearings.

 

What does your manual say to use? My '01 says to use multi-purpose NLGI Grade 2 EP-type lubricant. For sure you can't assemble them dry. I always use gear oil or grease. I also fill the hub by using a 6" ramp on each wheel for about 10 minutes after completion.

 

The SERVICE Manual says "Pack bearings with the appropriate wheel bearing grease."

 

Okay, I see. You are picking little black specks out of pepper....

 

If that's what you want to call it.....

 

Wow guess I'm the odd one being I have always (for 35 years) filled the rear end until it starts to come out, I have never lost a rear end of any make due to me adding an extra 1/4 inch of gear lube..