So I just recently replaced my rear axle wheel bearing and discovered two issues with my rear end.

First off it's a 7.5 with 3.73s stock on my 2wd 97 manual.

When I took off the diff cover to drain the fluid I saw that one of the gears was chewed up in some places. My truck has a jerky acceleration and I thought it could be something with my manifold or my injectors so I had Jiffy Lube treat both. It is still misfires at high rpms before I need to shift into higher gear if I keep it in that gear. I also have a loose gas neck hose that I need to tighten up so that may also be a problem. But back to the gear. I don't know if this gear can cause slippage while driving so I was asking here. Also is it replaceable? It's the small skinny gear farthest to the left.



Also I have a problem with my right axle. After I changed the axle bearing and seal I am still getting some free wiggle room for the axle to go in and out of the axle housing. There is still space for me to push the axle into the lock bolt but only slightly. Is the axle bearing and seal supposed to limit the in-out movement of the shaft? I might have installed the bearing incorrectly, didn't have anything of the exact diameter of the bearing so I have to use a pipe a little smaller than needed, and I can change it again if it's the problem. Thanks.

 

That is the ABS tone ring. It shouldn't effect how the truck drives. Dont know about anything else.

 

Cool. That helps me out plenty stranger. Thanks.

 

where exactly is the gas tube loose at? that may be an issue IMO.

 

ya, not sure what "gas tube" your referring too? but definantly tighten that up... now to deal with your diff, like stranger said, that is the ABS ring and wont affect your drivetrain or rpms.. when putting your axle seal and bearing back in, you really have to make sure you seated the bearing all the way in.. did you have to use a press for it? and also how did you get the old bearing out? also, when you re-installed your shaft and brakes you had to tighten the flange down near the drums (4 bolts most likely), you really need to snug those up, that contributes to tightening down and really seating that bearing.. i would go back and check those again because they have probably loosened up as the bearing seated which would explain the small amount of play in the shaft. try tightening those up again!

 

I was referring to the filler neck hose where you pump your gas. I will definitely tighten that up just because it's so annoying trying to pump gas and having to keep pushing the trigger after the gas hose stops itself.

To seat the bearing I used a piece of pipe with wide diameter and a hammer to get it as far in as I could without going too crazy to not damage the new bearing (might have in the process anyway as the pipe was not the same diameter as the bearing).

To get the old seal and bearing out I just used a slide hammer with a bearing remover to pull both of them out.

When I did the whole job I didn't have to remove any bolts and didn't have to touch my brakes. The only bolt I had to remove was the one holding the lock bolt in place in the diff so that I could slide the bolt out and push my axle in to remove the c-clip holding my axle in place. Surprisingly to me the only thing that holds my axle in place is a c-clip and the only thing that holds it center is the bearing and seal. No bolts. But I will check to see if there are any that you are talking about that can be tightened.

My axle problem is still up for discussion.