Rear Axle bearing change

I have noticed a TSHH TSHH TSHH sound coming from the rear of the car. Took it to a mechanic who told me he thought it was the diff ($$). Another said it was the brakes. I jacked the back up and took the brake hardware off and re-installed the wheels and ran it up on jackstands. The noise was still on the outside but no brakes to cause a rubbing sound so I figured the noise was a bearing issue. I used a stethoscope and could hear the noise more prominently from the edge of the axle rather than closer to the diff and it was pretty obvious where the noise was coming from.
I went shopping on Rockauto and saw separate bearing and seal - like installed on the car, as well as a combo of a bearing and seal in 1 assembly. I liked the combo setup so ordered that and got a bearing puller and slide hammer to remove the old parts. Got 3L of Amsoil 75W140 oil and the additive and watched a few Youtube video's of axle removal and away I went. Got the old bearing and seal out and installed the new combo assembly. As per the installation instructions, I inserted it until it bottomed out (different noise when tapping on it) and it stuck out a little less than the 1/4" as specified on the instructions. Great! Re-inserted the axle but couldn't get the C clip back on (inside the diff). The axle wouldn't go in far enough. F'ed around a bit and tried to knock the combo in further but it was in all the way so then decided to remove the new combo bearing and seal and re-install the old bearing and seal (fortunately the seal came out without damage when I pulled the bearing out). Added some synthetic grease to the bearing, refilled the diff and installed the rest of the parts. Much less noise now so fortunately bearings were the issue and not the diff and the grease will probably keep them quite for a while until the diff oil washes it out - but I still want to install new bearings but that of course means another 2.5L of $$ oil in the diff so I'll wait a bit. Has anyone else tried to use the combo bearing and seal? The parts were Timken 'made in the USA" so I trusted that it would fit. Will try a return to RA. Any advice or comments appreciated.

Yea I tired the one piece bearing and seal once. Picked it up at a local parts store. ORielly. I think it was their standard generic house brand "Masterpro". Looked cool when I took it out of the box. Bad idea. Same problem you had, it was way to wide to get the axle all the way in and slide the c-clip on. Total crap of a product. Sorry you had the same problem as I had, I'm sure were not the 1st or the last.

Next time I ordered ford parts "bearing and seal" from american muscle and waited the few extra days for them to come in the mail. It was worth it.

Thanks for confirming you had the same problem as I ran into. I thought perhaps I did something wrong. Makes you wonder why they would make something that doesn't work and keep selling it. I'm just glad I didn't f'up the original bearing and seal and could re-use it - at least for a while till I feel like spending more $$ on more oil. I guess I could re-use the oil but why tempt fate lol.

This is why I'll go to the Ford parts counter for most normal wear-and-tear replacement parts like those.

The potential money saved just isn't worth the risk of having to do the job over.


Norm

I sent the bearing/seal combo back to RockAuto (refund) and got the separate bearing and seal - so I live & learn and of course that always costs $$ so I get to pay again for 3 liters of 75W140 plus additive for my experience! I'm sure the diff won't mind.

Windstang said:

I sent the bearing/seal combo back to RockAuto (refund) and got the separate bearing and seal - so I live & learn and of course that always costs $$ so I get to pay again for 3 liters of 75W140 plus additive for my experience! I'm sure the diff won't mind.

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If the gear oil is new just put it back in.

If you're worried about getting dirt in the oil, you can pick up a package of paint strainer filters from anywhere that sells paint. The ones I use fit in a large funnel.

Yeah it's new pricey oil and additive. I guess should just try to keep the oil really clean as it drains and re-use it. With the old bearing back in, I have the noise again. When I first re-installed it, I put some synthetic grease in it and it was quieter. Next time I feel like bonding with the car, I'll jack her up and crawl under her for a while lol.