92 YJ stiff rear axle after replacing bearing, locking ring and seal

[Sufa1992]

Hello Everyone, new here!

I was replacing my outer rear axle seal, bearing and locking ring yesterday and when I tightened the 4 nuts holding the axle in all the way the entire thing became almost rock solid, had to put a lug nut on just to be able to spin the axle with a ratchet to get access to all 4 nuts.

Is this something common which will be freed over time?

I did make sure that I pressed the new bearing and locking ring all the way up.

Note: I noticed that the new locking ring was a bit bigger than the old one (but still had the same inner diameter) - I got a kit of SKF bearing and ring.
Note 2: I noticed I have 2 outer braces on each axle, perhaps the previous owner used 2 to prevent oil from leaking? Attaching picture of the old setup before I pressed the new bearing in.

Any help will be much appreciated!

 

[Flyer58]

Those axles are different than the ones in my '92 YJ. My axles are held in place with C-clips on the differential end, not the four nuts on the wheel end. Each type may have different bearing sizes.

I'm not familiar with the dates when the axle types changed from clips to nuts.

Edit: Funny, my phone just notified me I took that picture 5 years ago today.

 

[machoheadgames]

Someone swapped your rear axle from one that was originally installed in a 1987-1989 YJ.

I wonder if the new bearing is improper tolerance or something? Did you have trouble getting the nuts threaded on? As in, did the studs stick out far enough through the retainer plate to be easy to thread on?

 

[Sufa1992]

Someone swapped your rear axle from one that was originally installed in a 1987-1989 YJ.

I wonder if the new bearing is improper tolerance or something? Did you have trouble getting the nuts threaded on? As in, did the studs stick out far enough through the retainer plate to be easy to thread on?

To be honest the nuts fitted just fine, torqued them all to around 47 ft\lb and didn’t notice anything strange.

After driving for a mile or two I checked the stiffness of the axle and it seemed to be freeing, I hope that’s a good sign…

I did check the markings on the rear axle and I’m not sure it’s the original one, it looks like Dana 60 or am I not seeing it correctly? the bearing, seal and locking nut I ordered and installed were for Dana 44, I’m confused…
Attaching pictures of the markings on the rear axle:

Thx a lot for your reply!

 

[machoheadgames]

To be honest the nuts fitted just fine, torqued them all to around 47 ft\lb and didn’t notice anything strange.

After driving for a mile or two I checked the stiffness of the axle and it seemed to be freeing, I hope that’s a good sign…

I did check the markings on the rear axle and I’m not sure it’s the original one, it looks like Dana 60 or am I not seeing it correctly? the bearing, seal and locking nut I ordered and installed were for Dana 44, I’m confused…
Attaching pictures of the markings on the rear axle:

Thx a lot for your reply!

View attachment 123809

View attachment 123810

View attachment 123811

Can you post more photos of the axle as a whole? And some photos of the spring and shock mounts? It’s definitely not a Dana 35, could be a D44 or D60.

 

[Sufa1992]

Of course, thx a lot.

 

[machoheadgames]

That actually kind of looks like the incredibly rare factory export Dana 44. I’ve only seen one before and I don’t remember if the brackets look like that, but the track bar mount and everything else looks too clean and perfect to be a welded up backyard mechanic job…

What’s your VIN? I’ll see if I can find any details.

 

[Sufa1992]

Can you post more photos of the axle as a whole? And some photos of the spring and shock mounts? It’s definitely not a Dana 35, could be a D44 or D60.

That actually kind of looks like the incredibly rare factory export Dana 44. I’ve only seen one before and I don’t remember if the brackets look like that, but the track bar mount and everything else looks too clean and perfect to be a welded up backyard mechanic job…

What’s your VIN? I’ll see if I can find any details.

I’ll share the VIN later when I’m near it, it’s not my daily driver so I’m parking it away…

In the meantime, I took a short drive today of about 2-4 miles and when I got back I touched the outer side of the axle near the wheel hub and the right side (passenger) was very hot, I couldn’t keep my hand there for more than 3 seconds… the left side (driver) felt normal.

There’s definitely an issue with the passenger side outer wheel bearing, I suspect I didn’t pressed it all the way in although I’m pretty sure both sides were pressed completely.

Any chance I got a defective bearing? I just can’t think of anything else that might cause this issue…

 

[machoheadgames]

I’ll share the VIN later when I’m near it, it’s not my daily driver so I’m parking it away…

In the meantime, I took a short drive today of about 2-4 miles and when I got back I touched the outer side of the axle near the wheel hub and the right side (passenger) was very hot, I couldn’t keep my hand there for more than 3 seconds… the left side (driver) felt normal.

There’s definitely an issue with the passenger side outer wheel bearing, I suspect I didn’t pressed it all the way in although I’m pretty sure both sides were pressed completely.

Any chance I got a defective bearing? I just can’t think of anything else that might cause this issue…

It's possible. I used to have a TJ D44 in my YJ and I installed both SKF and Timken in it. Neither of them seemed to give me any install trouble, although the SKF didn't seem to need a ton of press pressure to install, which made me a bit nervous.

Hate to say it but I would probably just buy a Timken kit and redo the job. At least on the one side, maybe not both.

And I am a fan of SKF for other stuff, I just don't know that they are the best on the axle bearings.

 

[Sufa1992]

It's possible. I used to have a TJ D44 in my YJ and I installed both SKF and Timken in it. Neither of them seemed to give me any install trouble, although the SKF didn't seem to need a ton of press pressure to install, which made me a bit nervous.

Hate to say it but I would probably just buy a Timken kit and redo the job. At least on the one side, maybe not both.

And I am a fan of SKF for other stuff, I just don't know that they are the best on the axle bearings.

So today I tried to press the bearing further, plus checked it's race to make sure it's seated all the way in and it does.
No change after these steps, the axle is still very stiff after torquing the nuts...

I've notified my supplier and he is shipping a new set of SKF bearing and locking ring free of charge, I really hope this will solve the issue, I will try my best to remove the defective bearing without damaging the seal cause I'll have to re-use it.

If that won't work, I will order a TIMKEN kit, including new seals and everything else - I'm just not sure which one I should order because I think my rear axle is D60... if you have any clue please let me know

Regarding my VIN - I'm not sure it will help since my JEEP is basically a converted YJ that was used by the military - a short article about it here

Thx again for all the info you're sharing with me!

 

[machoheadgames]

So today I tried to press the bearing further, plus checked it's race to make sure it's seated all the way in and it does.
No change after these steps, the axle is still very stiff after torquing the nuts...

I've notified my supplier and he is shipping a new set of SKF bearing and locking ring free of charge, I really hope this will solve the issue, I will try my best to remove the defective bearing without damaging the seal cause I'll have to re-use it.

If that won't work, I will order a TIMKEN kit, including new seals and everything else - I'm just not sure which one I should order because I think my rear axle is D60... if you have any clue please let me know

Regarding my VIN - I'm not sure it will help since my JEEP is basically a converted YJ that was used by the military - a short article about it here

Thx again for all the info you're sharing with me!

Didn’t realize you’re overseas - that makes more sense now. I don’t think you have a D60, I think you have the factory export D44. But it could be a D60, I just don’t know how they got it to be such a clean install. It looks factory.

Definitely an interesting jeep you’ve got there.

 

[Sufa1992]

Didn’t realize you’re overseas - that makes more sense now. I don’t think you have a D60, I think you have the factory export D44. But it could be a D60, I just don’t know how they got it to be such a clean install. It looks factory.

Definitely an interesting jeep you’ve got there.

Update - I installed a brand new TIMKEN kit on the problematic axle and the same issue still exists…. I’m starting to think that I need to get a new axle… the first time I swapped the bearing with an SKF kit I made a small cut in the axle (attaching picture) while trying to remove the inner side of the old bearing, I didn’t think it might cause an issue because the new bearing is locking on that part of the axle but I just can’t think of anything else that might cause this axle to not move freely.
the only one available is DORMAN, did you have any experience with their axles?

 

[machoheadgames]

Update - I installed a brand new TIMKEN kit on the problematic axle and the same issue still exists…. I’m starting to think that I need to get a new axle… the first time I swapped the bearing with an SKF kit I made a small cut in the axle (attaching picture) while trying to remove the inner side of the old bearing, I didn’t think it might cause an issue because the new bearing is locking on that part of the axle but I just can’t think of anything else that might cause this axle to not move freely.
the only one available is DORMAN, did you have any experience with their axles?

View attachment 123863

I really don’t know what’s going on. Did it rotate freely before you did all this work?….

The scratch isn’t good but it shouldn’t be causing any real issues. At worst case you would be at risk of spinning the bearing race on the shaft. But the bearing is on there tight enough that that shouldn’t be anywhere close to being a problem.

Did you figure out if you have a D44 or D60?

You are using the stock axle retainer plates correct? The flat ones meant for drum brakes?

 

[Sufa1992]

I really don’t know what’s going on. Did it rotate freely before you did all this work?….

The scratch isn’t good but it shouldn’t be causing any real issues. At worst case you would be at risk of spinning the bearing race on the shaft. But the bearing is on there tight enough that that shouldn’t be anywhere close to being a problem.

Did you figure out if you have a D44 or D60?

You are using the stock axle retainer plates correct? The flat ones meant for drum brakes?

I got D60 and I’m pretty confident that the TIMKEN kit I got fits the axle since I got it from a local store that specialises in Jeep parts (and it was damn expensive…) .
I am using the flat retainer plates exactly like I did with the left axle.
I’ll try taking the drum brake out, cleaning it completely, changing the mounting bolts order. I hope any of these will help.
I guess the next step after this will be replacing the axle shaft..

 

[machoheadgames]

I got D60 and I’m pretty confident that the TIMKEN kit I got fits the axle since I got it from a local store that specialises in Jeep parts (and it was damn expensive…) .
I am using the flat retainer plates exactly like I did with the left axle.
I’ll try taking the drum brake out, cleaning it completely, changing the mounting bolts order. I hope any of these will help.
I guess the next step after this will be replacing the axle shaft..

Is it a SET20 bearing kit or something? I’m not really familiar with D60s at all.

 

[Sufa1992]

Is it a SET20 bearing kit or something? I’m not really familiar with D60s at all.

SET10, same as you would use for D44 as per what they told me in the store

 

[machoheadgames]

SET10, same as you would use for D44 as per what they told me in the store

Weird, I would have thought surely a D60 used the larger bearing. But as long as it fits the housing then I’m sure it’s correct.

 

[Sufa1992]

Weird, I would have thought surely a D60 used the larger bearing. But as long as it fits the housing then I’m sure it’s correct.

UPDATE - I "fixed" the issue.

Well, maybe I should say that I override the issue, here's what I did:
I talked to the previous owner of my jeep and asked him if he's familiar with the issue, he said this: " When I installed the e-lock the mechanic put in new bearings as well and he noticed that the passenger side axle shaft is becoming hard after tightening the nuts, he applied some thread locker and tightened the nuts to 10ft/lb of torque instead of the original 37ft/lb "

Today I did the same and the shaft is now spinning freely.

I can assume that replacing the passenger side rear axle shaft will solve the issue but in my country it will cost me around 700$ to get an original DANA axle shaft so I'll be waiting with that for now.

Fingers crossed the nuts will not loosen while driving

Thx a lot for the assistance!

 

[machoheadgames]

That to me sounds like the shaft is too long and needs to be trimmed. That can be relatively common with some aftermarket differentials. Are the shaft’s stock?

I would probably trim the shaft, leaving the nuts not very tight would make me nervous.

 

[Sufa1992]

That to me sounds like the shaft is too long and needs to be trimmed. That can be relatively common with some aftermarket differentials. Are the shaft’s stock?

I would probably trim the shaft, leaving the nuts not very tight would make me nervous.

As far as I'm aware the shaft is floating inside the diff, trimming it will help with the pressure on the bearing?

I'm pretty sure the shafts are stock, the passenger side shaft is longer by 1/2 in or so than the driver side's.