Earlier today I swapped out the rear axle bearing and seal by following the fantastic write-up by Longboarder (How-to: M226 Axle Seal Replacement). Everything went pretty well, I even used his "pipe press" method without any issues.
The one thing that didn't go quite right was the outer race on the new bearing was very firmly attached and didn't want to come off. I think I made a mistake and pried it apart before pressing the bearing on the axle. I installed the race in the axle housing right where the old one was (used the old one with a relief slot as a guide to tap it in) and then installed the axle with new bearing. It made a little noise right away but I've never done this before and thought it might go away after driving a bit.
I was wrong. Tonight as I was about to get on the freeway my rear end erupted with a screeching, grinding noise. I thought (hoped) it might have been a parking brake shoe that popped off but no, it's definitely the bearing. I got the wheel and caliper off in a parking lot to confirm all this before calling a tow truck.
So now I'm wondering if I should attempt to fix this or take it in and pay $$$ for a shop to do it (assuming I haven't just destroyed my axle). I'm leaning towards trying it again but leaving the outer race on the bearing this time. I'll also lube the mother loving crap out of it too (I lubed it but maybe not enough).
I'm looking for any input here. I'm right at the edge of my skill level with this job and don't quite know if there's something else I did wrong. To the very best of my knowledge I followed the guide to the T.
The one thing that didn't go quite right was the outer race on the new bearing was very firmly attached and didn't want to come off. I think I made a mistake and pried it apart before pressing the bearing on the axle. I installed the race in the axle housing right where the old one was (used the old one with a relief slot as a guide to tap it in) and then installed the axle with new bearing. It made a little noise right away but I've never done this before and thought it might go away after driving a bit.
I was wrong. Tonight as I was about to get on the freeway my rear end erupted with a screeching, grinding noise. I thought (hoped) it might have been a parking brake shoe that popped off but no, it's definitely the bearing. I got the wheel and caliper off in a parking lot to confirm all this before calling a tow truck.
So now I'm wondering if I should attempt to fix this or take it in and pay $$$ for a shop to do it (assuming I haven't just destroyed my axle). I'm leaning towards trying it again but leaving the outer race on the bearing this time. I'll also lube the mother loving crap out of it too (I lubed it but maybe not enough).
I'm looking for any input here. I'm right at the edge of my skill level with this job and don't quite know if there's something else I did wrong. To the very best of my knowledge I followed the guide to the T.
