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HELP ASAP!! Rear axle hub bearing failure.


Zerocool420

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Ok so I’m new here but I’ve got some sort of serious problem going on. I bought a f350 in early spring and when I was performing maintenance on the rear axle, I noticed the factory limited slip was messed up. So I completely tore down the rear axle and put every new part in it except the ring and pinion and a new Detroit tru trac. I have set many of these axles up before. So I put it all together by the book and drove it and within 30 miles I had an inner hub bearing destroy itself so bad it welded the race to the axle stub. I got it completely apart, put all new bearings and hub on it, refilled the oil and decided I didn’t want to mess with it so I sold it. Now this past Saturday I bought a F250 and drove it home 130 miles no problem. Again I go to perform maintenance and find the fluid is low, burnt and lsd pinion gears chewed up. So I completely tear down the axle, clean everything and rebuild the lsd, install all new bearings. Pinion, Carrier, and hub bearings and seals. Filled diff with oil and put oil in hubs when assembling. Took it out and drove it, everything seems normal. Again at about 30 miles, same thing again, inner hub bearing failure. So no I’m lost and confused. I’ve looked on google about hub bearing failures on this axle and haven’t found anything. So what’s my problem? Any and all advice appreciated!!

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I pack the hub bearings with grease using a bearing packer. Nothing crazy like a front bearing. It takes a long time for fluid to reach the hubs on a floater axle. Some guys will jack up one side of the truck to get fluid out there. I just prefer to pack them.

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First, You didn't say what year or which axle, but  Dana axles SHOULD NOT be filled all the way up. Sterlings too, but don't quote me on that. They are supposed to be set below the fill hole. Second, you HAVE TO lube the hub bearings, as Duff said, with grease or completely fill/coat the bearings with gear oil. Finally, If they were lubed right, you're probably not setting preload on the bearings properly. You didn't say what year or which axle (Dana, Ford or Sterling) But as a general rule of thumb, you spin the hub, and while spinning torque to 70 lb-ft, back the nut off a half turn, then re-torque to 18 lb-ft for most. Over or under-torque or just setting to final without the proper seating that the 70/backoff setup gives you will also cause failure. 

What bearings are you using?    

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