Bad rear bearings???

[Tilesetter Too]

Anybody had problems with bad rear axle bearings? I've got a heavy shake in the rear of the truck. I know exactly when I hit 60mph cause the shaking starts. It is the worst at 60 but still continues the faster I go. Driver side rear tire got ATE up badly. The entire outside edge of the tread was badly cupped and a one foot wide section on that same edge edge was burned down until all the rubber was gone in a space the size of a quarter. The rest of the tire had normal wear as do all other tires. I thought a new tire would solve the problem but the shake is back.
I haven't cracked the axle open yet but that will be next step. I have had the wheels balanced and rotated, front end aligned, etc. The shake still comes on in the rear. Anybody had similar experiences???
The tires are 265/75/16 Hercules Terra Tracs if that helps any... . only 40K on the axle
Shawn

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1998. 5 4x4 quad LB, Rollnlock, 5spd.

 

[illflem]

Have your shocks checked, many places will do it for free.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Doesn't sound like any bearing problem I've seen. A bad bearing might be noisy or run hot but I doubt it could cause a wheel shake bad enough to ruin a tire. Could be a bad shock like illflem said. Once the tire bounces enough to get worn it gets worse rapidly.

 

[rich m]

had right rear seal go. bearings were ok. (brake guy found it fairly quick,apparently) tire unaffected. greased/ruined the brake shoes. #ad

 

[sam peterson]

I have a feeling that if the bearing was bad enough to cause that kind of a shake the axle & wheel would have been passing you up.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

If the bed was ever overloaded, you might have bent the diff housing #ad

 

[Tilesetter Too]

Well, I have never overloaded the bed, especially considering the loading the bed thread awhile back. THe most I've had was about 3500lbs of rock, but i bought the truck used so who knows what the PO did.
Shawn

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1998. 5 4x4 quad LB, Rollnlock, 5spd.