D44 rear wheel bearing end float

[RPG]

Hi everyone,
Replaced the rear wheel bearings on D44 (2005 TJ) when I did the rear brakes, no problems just 150000 kms on them and thought while I was in there a bit of preventative maintenance. 5000 kms on I notice a rear seal leaking and while pulling the wheel off I notice the axel has a noticeable amount of end float. I check the other side and it is about the same but not leaking. My thoughts are it should be zero. Has anyone had any ware issues with the bearing seat in the D44s. Retaining plates are good no ware, and there were no shims in there when I pulled it apart. I have done plenty of old Holden and ford rear axles and never had any issues but now owning a jeep I am learning there is a whole heap of little quirky things I need to learn. Any thoughts appreciated.

[ajftj]

Hey RPG,
When I bought my 04 TJ I checked things out before the roady and had an audiable clunk from both rear wheels when you held the wheel and pulled it in and out. You could feel the axle moving in and out. I also felt that with a tapered roller bearing there should be nothing feelable. I measured this float as 0.5mm with a vernier, the same on each side.
As I had no leaks I decided to leave it alone until the winter.
I just had rear bearings, seals and retaining plates replaced (didn't do this one myself, short on time), after replacement I checked again and there is still a little play, I have not actually measured it yet. It is less, probably if you had just checked it you might have now completely ignored it, but now I'm sensitive. You can't actually hear any clunk now, but you can feel something.
I asked the mechanic, he said that the seal itself compresses when the plate is tightened and the overall compression effect on the bearing is reduced, its a poor design.
I have new seals and bearings, let's see how it goes - your worrying me..

[RPG]

Hi ajftj,
Seals compressing, haven't heard that one before. 0.5mm would be about what I have too. I think I will re do them and machine up a couple of shims to put between the retainer and seal. I will check the end float with a DTI and then measure the new bearings and seals to confirm they are the same size and make my shim aiming for zero. The seal has a hard steel rim and is rubber covered but would not give 0.5mm compression. I read another forum and some nut case said it was to allow for the axel to expand lengthways when it gets hot. That's why they have splines sliding into the side gears of the diff. Unfortunately I think it just comes down to wider tolerances on American engineering.

[ajftj]

Yeah, shimming would be the right engineering solution. I wasn't all that convinced about the seal / casing causing the issue either. I did talk to him about the condition of the old bearings, looking for any wear or discolouration / race scoring etc.. He said the old ones were in good condition. 0.5mm on a tapered roller isn't great, but as you say maybe slack tolerances? I guess these bearings are effectively washed in an oil bath. If you engineer a solution, post a couple of photos if you can it would be interesting.
Ta..

[RPG]

Sick of the leak, not a lot just annoying. Measured the end float .6mm one side .2mm the other. Other side not leaking so I will leave it alone at this stage. I have a chunk of bronze so I will machine up a shim. I will aim for zero so a .6mm shim it will be.

[nitrobrent]

Mine leak if not reinstalled with RTV around the outside.
Jack one side up and leave it over night so diff oil runs into the centre.
Clean up and smear RTV on both surfaces.
Install and leave over night before setting back on the ground

[ajftj]

Just following up on my experience. After the first bearing replacement, one side still had some play, but didn't leak so I ignored it. About 5000Ks later it was leaking again. This time I did it myself and ordered 3 seals. I picked the best seal to minimise play. I also changed the bearing from Timken to SKF

I fitted an axle sleeve at the same time to make the running surface for the seal new. This I think was information from one of nitrobrent previous posts.

When fitting, the seat was movable in the axle, so I did the same as nitrobrent mentioned above. Jacked it up used an RTV from Permatax that claims high oil resistance to transmission oils, sealed around the seat. Fitted and then left for a few hours.

Now I have no perceiveable play in the axle. (And no leak, but I attribute that to the sleeve)