boxburn

Today I found a small number of issues I need to sort prior to my MOT inspection, one of those being my o/s rear wheel has play on the outer bearing.

What should I be buying in preparation for this job?
Outer bearings
Gasket
Outer oil seals
Inner bearings?

Also, are there any tips for the job? Things not to overlook etc. I understand what I'm looking at but never having worked inside a differential unit, so I could miss things I should be noted.

Thanks

97grand4.0

Just a question, have you ever done this kind of job before? Because you seem to be calling axle bearings, wheel bearings, and referring to inner and outer.

boxburn

I mainly work on VW T1's & T2's so don't have experience with solid axles with differential like the XJ does. I have however done many wheel bearings and some reduction box bearings so do have experience working with bearings, I guess just have some terminology incorrect. How would you refer to the bearings other than inner and outer anyway? To me, one is on the inner of the axle and the other is on the outer.

97grand4.0

I understand. I guess being brought up with cars that ONLY had rear axles and diffs ..is no longer the norm. Using your terminology I think what you are trying to change would be the axle bearing. The carrier bearing in within the pumpkin. The pumpkin, as us oldtimers may call it, would be the rear differential housing.
So you need to open the pumpkin and take out the little 5/16 bolt which holds the center pin in , then slide out the axle shaft with the bearing on it, then smash the old one with a hammer until its gone, cut the race off, and press on the new bearing . Considering of course you are not doing this for nothing and your bearing will fix what you want to fix, if it's an inspection issue, which it would not be here. I describe this pretty good considering the glass of red wine.

SatiricalHen

What kind of play are you talking about? These axles are c clip axles so there is a little side to side play by design.

boxburn

97grand4.0 Thanks for the info. Even though they aren't wheel bearings, I know there can be terminology differences for the same things in the US and UK, one being a clotter pin which I know as a split pin. Without explanation I'd also be wondering what you are going on about pumpkins for. So yes, it would be the axle bearing that I am planning on changing. Now the amount of movement shouldn't count as a failure but probably a minor to observe, despite this there is a bit of noise you can hear when rotating the wheel which the tester would want me to investigate.

SatiricalHen When holding the wheel by the 12 & 6 position and rocking it, there is play which can be seen from the backing plate with the drum moving slightly, wheel bolts are tight. In comparison, the other side has no movement with the same test.

gat

If you axle/hub bolts to the axle hub via four nuts that are accessible thru the hole in the flange of the axle/hub, then it is a sealed bearing that is press fit on the axle. Else, you have the c-clip inside of the differential cover that retains the axle inside of the axle tube. The first type has no acceptable play, the second has some slop as a natural part of the design. There should be several videos on YouTube of either type.