Re: Differential Races


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Posted by David Sherman on Friday, March 06, 2009 at 15:53:59 :

In Reply to: Differential Races posted by Will (in IL) on Friday, March 06, 2009 at 13:55:20 :

I agree with Paul that it doesn't look like they've spun. I've pulled out many that look like that. As for the pitting, it's a judgment call. Gearboxes will put up with a lot of pitting with no ill effects, but if the rollers get rough, they're liable to shatter and at that point you have a problem. Most of the pitting starts out as rust spots that result from the oil draining away and moisture condensing on a "ran when parked" (when Nixon was president) truck. Then when you start running it, the tiny rust spots get pounded out into pits and craters. A certain amount of dullness is okay on a roller bearing cup (what you're calling the race). The one on the left doesn't look too bad to me, but it's definitely used.

The cone (the part with the rollers on it) is the expensive part. I don't know why yours wouldn't be available. Go to a bearing house with the number off the cone, not to an auto parts store with the make of the vehicle. You're pretty much stuck with Timken (no Cheap chinese roller bearings yet), and they're not cheap. For the most part, roller bearings don't catastrophically fail unless coarse dirt gets in or they're badly rusted. If you don't mind maybe having to tear it apart again sometime in the future, and the rollers don't look pitted, I think you're probably okay running what you have.

I have sometimes replaced cones without cups and vice versa to save money, if one part looks okay and the other doesn't. There's nothing wrong with that if you can adjust the pre-load (via a nut or shims, depending on the design) as needed. After all, they don't make them as matched sets in the factory.

If there's any doubt about the tightness of the cup in the housing, you can us a center punch to make a few small craters in the hole in the housing and/or put some lock-tite on it to hold it better. It doesn't take a super tight fit to keep them from spinning, though, since any weight on the shaft acts to hold the cup in place, while the bearings themselves, being well-oiled, turn asily.



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