9" wheel bearing replacement - safety concern

[Eliteman76]

Figured a picture was worth a 1000 words in this case.
So, had the GTS out, and noticed a growling noise. Intermittent. Went away on me, but noticed a leak, thought bad wheel cylinder.
I sprayed the hell out of the drum, replaced wheel cylinder a few weeks back, and noticed said noise again.
Notice fluid. Gear oil.

Pulled the axle yesterday, and the wheel bearing, the original Ford piece from nearly 40 years ago, had split in two.

Bought Timken wheel bearing.
Took to machine shop.
The shop removed and pressed the new bearing on for me.

Shop commented, axle was scared up some. New bearing pressed on, but did not take much force.
Lock ring went on good, and firmly in place.
Am I running a potential accident if I drive my GTS with the axle in this condition.
Can't seem to get a solid answer.
Was planning a road trip and going to take the GTS while the weather is nice and clean right now on Thursday, but this whole deal has left me a bit skittish about taking the GTS now on a 7 hour drive.

[Eliteman76]

Well, called currie, and feel better now.
Answered my concerns, was pretty helpful actually.

[yellomalibu]

...what'd they say?

If I chose to reuse the axle, I would have used green loc-tite - the sleeve retainer. It's bad-ass.

[Eliteman76]

In a 10 minute call with their tech line, discussed with the tech about what happened.
He said, as long as the locking ring is firmly planted, which it is, the axle is ok.

The bearing itself should be a light interference slip, and nothing that takes a huge amount of force to press on the axle shaft.

Drove the car tonight, and all is OK thus far.

I will also bring this matter up- the locking rings being provided with new bearings are no where near the size of the originals from Ford. Sent an email to Timken about this, but doubtful it will do any good.

[Warpspeed]

I also agree with this.
A radial ball bearing should never be pressed on so tight the inner race is forced to expand.
That can close up the very small clearance between the balls and their races, and cause the bearing to run tight, and run hot.
Disaster will likely follow.
It should be a very light press fit, just enough to stop it inner race from moving around on the shaft.
The retaining collar should be put on very tight indeed.
Sounds like you have done it exactly right.

[milner351]

^^^^
That's what I've always been told. The green loctite is in service on shaft bearings all over the world if the fit is a little loose -that stuff is the ticket. I light press fit is just fine.

I like to check the hub temperature after a short drive when I do repairs like this, I've had to re - do a few thanks to cheap bearings or lack of proper tooling / technique to press on the right part of the bearing
(before I knew better i'd hammer a bearing onto an axle not thinking about only applying force to the inner race)

[JeffMcKC]

Warm them in a toaster oven/flat plate, they should almost drop on

[squirrel]

I have larger ID bearings on the Summers Bros axles in the 9" in my 55. The Summers Bros lock rings are a lot beefier than the Moser rings....

I haven't had one fall off yet. They are tight.

[Eliteman76]

My issue, my original lock ring is twice as wide, and nearly 3/16" thicker on the OD.

I did a 450 mile run today in the GTS, no issues. Car just rolled down I29 to KC, MO and back.

[SpiderGearsMan]

flip the axle in the press ..bangs right on

[SpiderGearsMan]

I have larger ID bearings on the Summers Bros axles in the 9" in my 55. The Summers Bros lock rings are a lot beefier than the Moser rings....

I haven't had one fall off yet. They are tight.

Olds housing ends ?

[JeffMcKC]

Mark Williams uses a Olds End thats whats on my "Old Nova" and the Nine inch has 2 sizes of bearings