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97 Pathy R50 Dead rear axle. Advise!


Mattmill91
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Hey all! My 97 pathy rear wheel bearings had a catastrophic failure.

 

cde6b7cc18cd2d62240db84e60696e2d.jpg

 

Right rear bearings failed.

 

 

What are my options? I am finding 4.3 ratio for much cheaper then the 4.6.

 

 

From my understanding is all the drive axle splines are the same but the inner guts of the diff it self are what matter..

 

It appears that all the retaining holding my wheels together failed.

 

Is there better year axels that will "bolt" on.

 

 

Or should I try an find a 4.6 like one I have an direct swap then. Mine has about 203k miles.. some on eBay is a 130k miles.

 

68408af5378af38f87f9b95cc229a9fc.jpg

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The differential gearing in the third member is a separate unit from the axles and wheel bearings. I would recommend sourcing the lowest-mileage rear axle you can find, then swap in your current differential third member in order to preserve your current gear ratio. The third member is pretty easy to swap in.

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Do you actually need new innards? You should be able to get away with installing a new right axle shaft, unless the bearing failure damaged other things besides the shaft.

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Yeah, not following. If the bearing is toast, you can either replace it (bearing is $19 from RA but you'll need a floor press), or get a complete RH axle shaft with brakes from any donor 96-00 R50, and then it's just bolt-on and some brake work. If the lock nut on the axle shaft shot off from the pressure, then the axle shaft probably can't be re-used...you'll need to look at the threads on the axle shaft above the bearing to confirm. Then buy a new lock nut and lock nut retainer. I can provide some pics if you want to see the breakdown. If you're desperate, I think I can also build you a full assembly...I think I have everything I need in my garage right now.

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Thanks every one ! I am in the process of getting it off the truck.

 

The wheel drum an axle shaft literally came off the vehicle.. bearing toast. I haven’t looked to see how much damage to the rear housing was done

I am pretty sure it’s dead. But I’ll have to take it out an compare the 2 sides....

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Yeah, not following. If the bearing is toast, you can either replace it (bearing is $19 from RA but you'll need a floor press), or get a complete RH axle shaft with brakes from any donor 96-00 R50, and then it's just bolt-on and some brake work. If the lock nut on the axle shaft shot off from the pressure, then the axle shaft probably can't be re-used...you'll need to look at the threads on the axle shaft above the bearing to confirm. Then buy a new lock nut and lock nut retainer. I can provide some pics if you want to see the breakdown. If you're desperate, I think I can also build you a full assembly...I think I have everything I need in my garage right now.

 

If you would n some pics would be awesome... I haven’t found many. Thanks !

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What trail were you on when this happened, and how are you getting it home? If you need to limp it off the trail so that you can get it towed home, you could try rigging up a temporary way to keep the axle from sliding out.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=broken+c-clip+axle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIzYLViLfWAhVilVQKHWAuD60Q_AUICygC&biw=1392&bih=941#imgrc=_

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Build me a 4.6 with discs and Ill furnish the locker😐

 

You do know I have a spare set of disc brakes, right? With the 31-spline shafts you've got, you could use those. Just need the gears (easy!).

 

Thanks every one ! I am in the process of getting it off the truck.

 

The wheel drum an axle shaft literally came off the vehicle.. bearing toast. I haven’t looked to see how much damage to the rear housing was done

I am pretty sure it’s dead. But I’ll have to take it out an compare the 2 sides....

 

Now that I'm off my phone and can see the pics better...yeah, the bearing is toast indeed. That is the only thing that keeps the axle shaft attached to the truck, as you've found out.

 

Lock nut appears fine, ABS tone ring missing, just need to see if the axle shaft didn't get warped. I'd think the differential and spline ends to be fine (easy to tell, just put the axle shaft back in).

 

Though...you posted the last pic back in June. Is this carnage from the same event or was it repaired sometime after? Something doesn't look right. Maybe the tone ring busted off from the event (yet I needed a floor press to remove several), not sure if I see the lock nut retainer, and I can't tell if there's a flat washer between it and the inner bearing cone. I would also expect to see something left from at least one of the bearings (the bearing is actually two bearings). It would have definitely needed to be a catastrophic failure of one bearing to completely wipe out the other bearing in that scenario...literal part grenading. The thing is, though, that these things are sandwiched when tons of force, and even with a plastic cage on the rollers, it's got to be sufficient...there's not many places for the rollers to go, even if the plastic cage degrades. Surely this was preceded by noise or grinding? Is there a remotely possibility that this was repaired incorrectly??

 

Here's the breakdown of parts, not including the drum backing plates:

 

IMG_5247.jpg

 

L to R: ABS tone ring, lock nut, lock nut retainer, washer, inner bearing, bearing race race, outer bearing, bearing cup, grease seal.

Edited by hawairish
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Sorry didn’t mean to freak anyone out. I rescued the pathy a week later.

 

It’s just now jacked up in the yard ready to be worked on....

 

 

Yeah it could be as easy as the bearings... if they just press in that housing.

 

Thanks a lot. Be back later with more https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170922/6d6cb076f6904003d2ea981e2ae1114a.heic4c9708d24c6dd34fedc986c2fafdc3cf.jpg

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Ah gotcha...now's the repair process!

 

So on that new pic, does look like maybe the fingers on the nut retainer simply ground off as the axle shaft moved outward. That inner bearing cone is fully destroyed...and that's the bearing that really does all the work of keeping the axle shaft in. You can see how there's a step-lip on the outer bearing cone that's pretty much missing on the inner bearing.

 

The tone ring may just be sitting inside the bearing cup that's still attached to the axle tube. There are 4 nuts that just need to be removed to remove the cup.

 

And yes, the bearing race is pressed into the bearing cup. That assembly is "pressed" onto the axle shaft when the inner bearing is pressed onto the shaft. Don't forget to replace the grease seal. The way I do it is to press the race into the cup first, grease the hell out of the outer side of the race, put the outer race in (more grease), then press the grease seal on. Then, grease up the inner side of the race, insert bearing, then press that entire assembly together. Don't forget to put the brake backing plate back onto the cup! Check for runout before re-assembly too...take it to a drivetrain shop and have them check even.

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You'll probably need to tap it on all sides with a rubber mallet...at some point you might get enough clearance to wedge a prybar or flat screwdriver near the bolt holes. The part you see coming outside the cup isn't the race, it's part of the casting.

 

You can also try twisting the cup clockwise or counter-clockwise. That might break any rust buildup and give you a flat surface to tap against. A punch on one of the bolt hole ears ought to get it started.

Edited by hawairish
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ada973b705e4d7ce3a0e6f0f576f3f41.jpg

 

 

Only time she as ever failed me...

 

 

This failure may be more common than we realize...the real Q is: What actually failed??? Where's the weak link?

 

My '02 looked EXACTLY the same when I bought it. Ended up buying a complete rear end assy from the JY. Cost me $450 removed(w/a cat back exhaust in the deal too). I totally lucked out w/mine as someone had just replaced ALL the control arms on it!! Any chance of that option in ur local area??

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This failure may be more common than we realize...the real Q is: What actually failed??? Where's the weak link?

 

Surprisingly, this actually isn't an unexpected result for this sort of failure. It's inherent to the semi-float axle design we have. The only thing that keeps the axle shaft attached to the truck is the wheel bearing.

 

It's highly improbable that the shaft will actually slide out of the bearing (they require several tons of force to press together), but it only takes a couple dislodged or damaged rollers to allow the cone to slip from the race.

 

In his 2nd to last pic, you can see that the inner cone has this massive score halfway up the cone, and a lip on the cone—where the outside of the rollers would rest against—is completely gone.

 

The weakest link, then, is the bearing. Although there's a plastic retainer that seems flimsy, it's function is pretty low-duty. But like any bearing, debris, poor/deteriorated lubrication (i.e., water, gear oil contamination), and heat will be the death of it. Once a roller binds, it becomes a chain reaction, imminent doom.

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That's the thing...you can't really do any PM on them. You can inspect them, if you're willing to undo all the brakes lines and pull the assemblies out, but that's about it. One bearing is completely obstructed, and the other barely accessible...you need some pretty hefty syringe to inject grease into the bearings. At least with the assembly out you could try to sense any bearing issues, but for that trouble, may as well consider redoing the bearings anyway.

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If they are like domestic rear ends, the rear axle bearings are lubricated by gear oil. As long as you keep clean gear oil and full enough that some can migrate down the axle tubes to the bearings, you should be okay.

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Not the case here. There's an inner oil seal that seats near the end of axle tube, and it seals against the axle shaft to keep gear oil out of the bearing cup. There's also a large o-ring on the outside of the end of the axle tube to keep the elements out. Lastly, the grease seal that's sandwiched between the axle shaft hub and the bearing cup is what keeps the grease in bearing.

 

I'm planning to reassemble all the loose parts I have sitting to make complete axle shaft assemblies. If I get a free hand, I'll try to capture some pics of the process. (Mattmill91: if you think you could use the finished assemblies, let me know.)

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... suddenly I've got this urge to check my rear wheel bearings. I've repacked my fronts but didn't even think to check the rears. Anyone repack theirs as preventative maintenance?

 

What the other guy said, you can't really repack them. Once and while I will jack up the rear end and check for play/smoothness. All you can really do without tearing them apart. I'm sure if I did that would just be inviting a @!*% storm to start.

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