Anony

If the shaft isn't grooved or worn it should be ok.

There are rear wheel bearing kits for use with worn shafts. The bearing assembly is wider and fits over the worn part of the shaft. Some also included a grease cup.

Timken TRP1559TV is for use with the 8.25 axle

Optional: axle repair package bearing - axle repair bearing allows bearing & seal to ride on un-worn axle path

myraus

Here I am bringing this thread back to life again..

On my 91, I have a noise coming from the rear diff too. When I'm driving and bring the speed up to 50 mph it gets progressively worse, then quiets down after that. Driving at slower speeds, say 25-40 mph, I can hear what sounds like a growling noise coming from the right rear only. And how I know that it's from only that side is I had my rear windows open and there was no sound from the left and a lot from the right. Also, when you drive on the road, would you be able to hear those same noises reflecting off the pavement?

I had the rear diff cover off to inspect the gears and bearings, and the pinion seal leaks a bit and I had to replace the cross pin retainer bolt because it showed signs of wear. Other than that everything in the center was fine. I had both rear drums off to inspect the brakes and seals. The seals were dry and I couldn't feel any major movement up and down on the shafts.

Would that noise be the wheel bearing? And how hard are they to replace?

md21722

My new to me 97 XJ has some kind of rear end noise. I jacked it up, took off tire tires and drums, and can move the hub up and down a little on each side. I'm assuming this is the rear wheel bearings. I remove the shafts and can see where there is a contact pattern about 5/16" wide on the axle shaft and the center of the bearing rollers. It is smooth to the touch. There is a small groove where the seal was riding, but there were no leaks of any kind. Can I assume that the up and down play is wheel bearings? Is it standard practice to reuse the axle shafts or is it best to always replace them when you do wheel bearings?

The differential must have been rebuilt at some point. It has yellow stuff on the bottom of ring gear teeth that looks like the compound used to check the gear pattern. I am not sure how to tell what all was done. Maybe they just did the pinion seals or bearings. It looks like it was refilled with 75w-90 synthetic or something like that (fluid is bluish). There were small metal particles but I can't really see where they are coming from. The ring gear has no shiny wear pattern on any teeth. For all I know the metal particles are from the wheel bearings. The wheel bearings were stamped Torrington so they may be original. They are not blued, burnt, etc.