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D44 Axle, Replacing Wheel Seal, Re-use bearing?

M

mhead

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Encinitas, CA
Hi All,

I've got a D-44 rear axle with a leaky wheel seal. I have a press and a bearing splitter. I rebuilt this axle about 30K miles ago so new bearings aren't needed.

After I pull the bearing and install the seal will I be able to use the bearing again? I guess the question is can a D-44 wheel bearing be pressed off without damage?

On a related topic, I ordered a D-44 wheel bearing from AutoZone. It arrived but it had a plastic retainer instead of the steel retainers I have seen in the past. It was a Timken bearing such as I've purchased in the past.

Is the plastic race a cheap-out that will allow the bearing to fail quickly?

Thanks!
 
No. Replace the bearing. Are you talking about the sleeve on the shaft being plastic or the outer retainer plate? Neither should be plastic. If it started leaking that soon, you might need to install a speedy sleeve to repair the surface where the seal rides on the shaft. There may be an offset seal available that would ride on a slightly different part of the shaft as well.
 
Bearings are cheap enough, why go through the trouble of trying to reuse them, when its already apart and easier to put a new one on than save the old? If it had 5K on it, maybe I would think about it, but it already has 30K on the bearing, that is a good amount of miles, just change it.

I wouldn't use anything plastic back there, go back to autozone and find out what the mix up was.
 
You probably could get the bearing off intact. You'd still need to replace the retainer sleeve as it will need to be cut off. So you're looking at $12 for the seal, plus $10 for the sleeve. Or you buy the bearing kit with the seal, bearing, and sleeve for $40.
 
lawsoncl - The Timken from Autozone was the correct one. They checked. This bearing is pressed onto the axle and consists of the race, the rollers, and a plastic roller retainer. Bearings I've seen in the past had a metal roller retainer. The plate that holds the bearing into the tube at the wheel is metal.

You are probably correct about the need for a speedy sleeve to improve the seal surface. Where can I purchase this? Any suggestions for a source for the complete kit you mention?

Betster - I agree bearings are cheap enough. When I saw the Autozone bearing I started to think that maybe it would be better to just keep using the old one rather than put the Autozone bearing with the plastic roller retainer in.

Thanks for help!
 
That is plastic? No way in hell would I use a plastic retaining collar. It's supposed to get pressed on with about 3 tons of force. It's what prevents the bearing from walking off and your shaft sliding out.

image.axd
 
Last edited:
lawsoncl said:
You probably could get the bearing off intact. You'd still need to replace the retainer sleeve as it will need to be cut off. So you're looking at $12 for the seal, plus $10 for the sleeve. Or you buy the bearing kit with the seal, bearing, and sleeve for $40.
Click to expand...

Any advice concerning where to buy this kit?

Thanks!
 
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