Rear bearing seized onto rear axle @ 177k miles

[Ben Rumson]

Clarification

... I just don't buy the argument that you need to swap the bearing out every 100K miles unless you're always towing something real heavy.

I didn't say that our bearings "need" to be swaped out every 100k. They "may" go forever. What I posted is...

... My advise to all is to replace your rear axle bearing on your preventive maintenance schedule (every 80K to 100K - depending on how hard you haul) and DON'T wait till they go out on their own. It will be MUCH cheaper and safer to do them on YOUR time and place.

Or to give my advise another way...

If it's a "wear" item or better yet, a "critical" wear item,

and there's been a reasonable amount of mileage on it,

and it doesn't cost not much to replace,

and it's relatively easy to replace,

then why not replace it?



It may cost much more time and money if you wait, because it may take out other tihings with it when it goes.



Driver Side Bearings (Preventive Maintenance):

• $30 (2 bearing sets and an oil seal)
  
• 1 hour
  

Passinger Side Bearings (Seized-up):

• $80 (2 bearing sets, an oil seal AND a new adjusting nut and holding pin)
  
• 6 hours
  
• The truck broke down away from home (I was fortunate that I wasn't on the open road hauling a load)
  
• I had to risk serious damage to the axle when torching the seized bearing out. How much is a new axle anyway?
  

Which one of these is not like the other?



Again, "It will be MUCH cheaper and safer to do them on YOUR time and place". IMO, PM schedule replacement is always better than the alternative with it's associated collateral damage.



For $60 and 2 hours (listening to Pink Floyd in the shade of my garage), I will include Rear Bearing Replacement in my PM schedule. And, because this is such a small expense, I will be doing it around 100k.



Maybe I just need another reason to spend some time touching my truck? I enjoy it.



To each his own.

- Ben

 

[Ben Rumson]

Clarification

... I just don't buy the argument that you need to swap the bearing out every 100K miles unless you're always towing something real heavy.

I didn't say that our bearings "need" to be swaped out every 100k. They "may" go forever. What I posted is...

... My advise to all is to replace your rear axle bearing on your preventive maintenance schedule (every 80K to 100K - depending on how hard you haul) and DON'T wait till they go out on their own. It will be MUCH cheaper and safer to do them on YOUR time and place.

Or to give my advise another way. if...

• it's a "wear item" or better yet, a "critical" wear item
  
• and there's been a reasonable amount of mileage on it
  
• and it doesn't cost much to replace
  
• and it's relatively easy to replace

... then why not replace it?



It may cost much more time and money if you wait.



Driver Side Bearings (Preventive Maintenance):

• $30 (2 bearing sets and an oil seal)
  
• 1 hour
  

Passinger Side Bearings (Seized-up):

• $80 (2 bearing sets, an oil seal AND a new adjusting nut and holding pin)
  
• 6 hours
  
• The truck broke down away from home (I was fortunate that I wasn't on the open road hauling a load)
  
• I had to risk serious damage to the axle when torching the seized bearing out. How much is a new axle anyway?
  

Which one of these is not like the other?



Again, "It will be MUCH cheaper and safer to do them on YOUR time and place". IMO, PM Schedule replacement is always better than the alternative.



For $60 and 2 hours (listening to Pink Floyd in the shade of my garage), I will include Rear Bearing Replacement in my PM schedule. And, because this is such a small expense, I will be doing it around 100k.



Maybe I just need another reason to spend some time touching my truck? I enjoy it.



To each his own.

- Ben

 

[fj40charles]

I didn't say that our bearings "need" to be swaped out every 100k. They "may" go forever. What I posted is...

- Ben

What I said was this... .

I've overfilled my diffs ever since the first gear oil change. . I've got over 80K miles without any issues. I'm willing to bet the vast majority of bearing failures are on the driver side because of the crown of the road. If you have a vent and it is not clogged it should be fine. I run synthetic gear oil in my diffs. I just don't buy the argument that you need to swap the bearing out every 100K miles unless you're always towing something real heavy.

I'm merely stating my opinion on the matter. I don't agree with your "advise" on preventive maintenance schedule to replace of rear axle bearings. I have not seen enough evidence of rear axle bearing failures with many trucks going 300K miles on original bearings. I think using a quality synthetic gear lube, drain/re-filling on schedule is more important as a "preventive maintenance" item.

My advise to all is to replace your rear axle bearing on your preventive maintenance schedule (every 80K to 100K - depending on how hard you haul) and DON'T wait till they go out on their own. It will be MUCH cheaper and safer to do them on YOUR time and place.



And... they're not hard to replace - 30 min. job IF they're not seized and welded to your truck.

 

[Ben Rumson]

Have we saved any souls today?

fj40charles,



It's nice to have a well-rounded, healthy, discussion.



You make a good point - that using a quality synthetic gear lube, drain/re-filling on schedule is more important as a "preventive maintenance" item. I agree with you to an extent.



Here's why. All readers should know that I run a well known, high quality, synthetic gear lube and have replaced it twice since I bought the truck with 80k miles on it. That's 50k between changes - twice as much as most trucks on the road receive. And, I still had a bearing seize.



Our trucks are not infoulable. Parts DO wear out - moving and non-moving. Is 100k too frequent for for a bearing replacement? Some will say "yes". Others (including myself) say "no". Bearing failure doesn't seem to be a big problem with our rigs... but it is when you're not expecting it.



I'm taking reliablility and dependablility into my own hands. I'm including bearing replacement in my PM Schedule and I'm willing to let them go 100k before I replace them. $60 every 100k sounds and feels reasonable to me.



Priorities and costs change if you're doing the work yourself or taking it to a shop. If you can't change the bearings easily on your own then you may be willing to risk driving on them further than you might otherwise have done.



What a GREAT site!

- Ben

 

[cmills]

I'm with Shelby I know several people who have 150,000-200,000 miles on their trucks and never change the fluid at all and they have never had any problems, I'm not saying it doesn't happen but I think with regular fluid changes and keeping the rear end full they should go a long time with no problems.