WJ D44A varilock right rear wheel bearing replaced three times, still has play

[octanepwr]

Hi all

Bit of a long story here but here goes...

So about 18 months ago I had a mechanic do a rear wheel bearing because the seal was leaking. I don't believe at the time there was any play in it, just leaking diff oil and brakes needed doing. First time in my ownership which started about 18 months prior to this first bearing job. I don't own a press and don't trust myself to cut near the axle anyway.

About a year later when changing wheels I noticed the bearing has play - grab front and rear of the wheel and it rocks. I don't know when the play arrived; it may have been there quite a while as I had the same wheels on for quite a while. The same mechanic replaced the bearing again and said 'the outer race spun in the housing'. He bearing locked the new outer race in with the green locktite - the proper bearing lock stuff. I guess he must have separated the outer race from the bearing as I know it comes as one piece out of the box?
My research tells me the outer race doesn't need to be tight in the housing, but anyway, the play was gone.
Timken was the brand of bearings these first two times.

About four months after that 2nd replacement above, I found it has the play in it again. Exactly the same feeling. It definitely didn't have the play after he replaced it the 2nd time as I checked when I got home - but who knows exactly how long it took to re-appear.
I drove it for a while after discovering the play, until I had the opportunity/desire to consider these damn bearings again.
At that later time, I noticed the 4 nuts holding the axle in were not as tight (after the four months) as what I would say is 60 Nm (torque wrench doesn't fit in there). Perhaps they weren't done up tight enough I thought and that led to play. I tightened them and the play did not go away. I assumed the bearing had degraded already due to lack of torque on nuts for some time so play remained - but now knowing after the third time it still has play the same as after the first time I am not convinced at all that is the issue.

I just got a different mechanic to replace it for a 3rd time, and he knows jeeps and dana axles well. He said as per my research it doesn't need to be super tight in the housing, he didn't fit bearing lock even though I requested it. I am confident with the explanations/history I gave him he did the 4 nuts up tight (and his experience). He also said he checked the retaining plate and it was pretty good but did straighten it a little - he knows the history so it was worth a go as could have been a factor, and I can't find where to buy new D44a retainer plates anywhere (maybe D44 ones are the same?)
This time I got SKF bearing and seal instead.
So for the third time, IT STILL HAS PLAY IN IT!
This time not only does it have play front and rear of wheel but if you put your hands top and bottom also - so perhaps the bearing lock stopped top/bottom direction but obviously did not solve the problem of play in the other direction (front/back hand locations on wheel).

Now I know these are a semi-floating where the other cone bearing is in the diff, and pressure on the bearing is applied through a seal (!!!! even though it has a steel bit in it), which seems like an odd design to me.
What is wrong with my setup here?
Do I need a diff bearing rebuild?
Do I need to shim the housing to increase preload?
Can I change to a non-tapered wheel bearing (identical in dimensions otherwise to the taper one) and would that solve the problem? I have had these on other trucks and they were bulletproof.
This really is driving me nuts no one can fix it...
How do I fix it!
The jeep will fail mandatory roadworthy inspection with the play even if it is safe, cause it isn't right.

Thanks

[JoergM]

My gut feeling tells me that your mechanic used the wrong bearing. I found a Timken video were they talk about the issues you have, if you have the wrong bearing set installed. The video can be found here

Tricks of the Trade: 1998-2004 Grand Cherokee Axle Bearing - YouTube

In the video the Timken guy mentions that you need to choose the Timken set 31. It contains the right bearing, race and the locking collar. They seem to have the wrong size if the incorrect bearing set was installed. I would double check if this is the case.

[5oclock]

I feel your pain,,been there myself. This is what I found and what worked for me. The bearing needs shims behind it. As far as I know you have to make them yourself. I have made them out of the aluminium from beer cans, or thicker sheet(better if it is soft aluminium)
Jack a wheel up and grab the wheel and wrench it in and out,,,there is the problem , play.
To do it properly a dial gauge would be the go. Then undo the 4 nuts and the shim has to go behind the "cup" part of the bearing. You can cut them with tin snips from your aluminium stock. So pull axle and bearing out and put your best guess to the shim size in the axle tube and replace the cup and reassemble the lot and repeat wrenching in and out to check the play. Probably better to leave a tiny bit than go nuts and end up with the bearing way tight.
Once you are happy with the amount of play, pull the axle back out a bit and do a good clean up and put a small amount of auto silicone on the axle tube where the seal sits and you will have solved the oil leak as well.
Good luck and I am sure this will solve your problems as it did for me.
PS,,,just saw JoergM post, and this may be the problem also...however in my case I had put a couple of set 31 sets in my WG and the problem was still there. After the shim install , 2 years and 40,000km later play is still gone.
PPS Be sure to let us know how you went,,good luck .

[octanepwr]

Thanks guys.

I am confident the bearings are definitely correct. Mechanic had to swap one time as second replacement was wrong one. Last one I got from rockauto (SKF equivalent of Timken set 31, and matching seal number), compared to the axle myself. And the real proof is the other side is fine and the first time both sides were done.

Shims - any chance you could do a microsoft paint sketch or something showing where the shim goes?
I am not sure if you mean shim goes between bearing and seal, or seal and retaining plate?
A feeler gauge might work to get thin ones?

Good idea on the silicone too! But i guess that only works if oil leaks out that way as opposed to through the centre of the seal. Cause the axle rotates inside the seal right? Or with this funny design does the seal not rotate on the axle and instead the seal rotates with axle and spins on the retaining plate?

[5oclock]

Shim goes behind the bearing cup,,,the bit of the bearing that slides into the axle tube,,also difficult to pull out because it tends to stick as it comes out.
Seal pushes into the axle tube as a "tight" push fit , only problem is it can leak oil between the axle tube and the outside of the seal,,,hence the silicone(only a small amount is required).
I should have mentioned when you pull it all apart be sure to remove the ABS sensor early in the operation to avoid damaging it...
Also if you havent pull the axle out before, they can be a bit difficult to "slide" out,,some puller is required at times. I use a piece of chain on opposing wheel studs and jerk it with the tow ball on a tow hitch.
Refer to the workshop manual for pics,,hope thats a bit clearer.
PS If you get really stuck for shims I will cut some out for you,,you can send me your postal address as a PM.

[octanepwr]

So just to confirm my understanding:

1) The shim goes in the diff housing (where the outer race of the bearing sits)?

2) A)Does the shim go 'around' the outer race/on inside of housing as if to make the bearing wider (like as in axle width direction),

OR

B) Does the shim go 'behind' the outer race inside of the housing as if to make the bearing thicker?

From what I get it is this one, as we need to increase preload on bearing, but from memory when I pulled the axle out the lip the outer race sits against was very small - meaning making a shim to go behind the outer race (the whole way around) would be quite hard (whereas A would be easy but not increase clamping pressure on the bearing)

The previous bearing was well locked in with bearing lock, the outer race did not move. The bearing lock pooled to the bottom, so perhaps that's why the play grabbing top and bottom of wheel was gone, but not grabbing front and back of wheel. Now the mechanic did it with no lock, there is play on both axis. So I am thinking the bearing lock went some way to being a shim but not good enough.

Some people have said to punch the diff housing to knurl it to stop the outer race spinning. However that won't solve it as it sure wasn't moving with the bearing lock! So it has to be about spacing and preload, not spinning bearing outer.

Yep I removed ABS plug first, and did the rotor on backwards and rubber hammer trick to free axle when I did my inspection. Understood on silicone.

I can't get my torque wrench on the bolts. I am going to borrow some 'crows foot' bits which I think will give me space to get it on and then check torque. I have long spanners I can do FT, probably like mechanic thinks, but I am determined to check actual torque value.

Thanks for the awesome offer on the shims. I will PM you also.

[5oclock]

The shim or shims go behind the outer race or "cup" of the bearing ,to pack the bearing out to increase preload,(or make the bearing thicker). If you end up with a bit of preload then the cup part of the bearing will not tend to turn or spin and you will have no noticeable play when you wrench on the wheel.
So if you still have an old bearing "cup" you can measure the size and make them using pair of "dividers" to scribe the 2 circles. They are small and fiddly to make, but the inner or smaller circle is not that critical, just hangs over inside the axle tube.
I would not use locktight or center punch the axle tube.
The guts of the problem is the "Axle shaft retainer" (the thing with the 4 studs and nuts) is not tight enough due to wear etc, but easiest way to fix is with shim.
I dont worry to much with the tension wrench on the retainer nuts, just do them up tight with a ring spanner, the jeep bolts and nuts are good stuff much stronger than jap bolts.
Hope that clears it all up.
Just jack each wheel up one at a time to work out the approx shim thickness before you pull it all to bits.
On the bad wheel on my old jeep it needed about 0.7mm of shim.(or maybe 0.9mm,just cant remember)