Rear wheel axle bearings

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Dialtone74

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Hello everyone. Brand new to this forum and new to the KJ. Just bought a 02 Jeep Liberty Limited 4x4 124k miles for my daughter. 1st car!! So far I had to replace the upper and lower ball joints and both tie rods. Did all that myself. Very excited that I actually did all that. My next project is both rear wheel bearings. I have confirmation that my diff is the 8.25. When I spin the wheel there is nasty noise. Sounds like a machine gun. You can feel the noise with you hand as you spin. So here is my questions for everyone:

Is the bearing pressed into the axle housing? Or on the axle shaft itself? Does the race come out with the bearing or do I need to remove it separately? I know I can rent the slide hammer and the bearing set tool. What should I expect once I get down and dirty on this project.

Keep in mind I am not a mechanic but I love to work on this stuff. Love a challenge. Just want to be prepared. Thank you in advance for any advice.
 

J33Pfan

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I cant answer you questions, but you need to drop the axle cover and look for broken gears, loose metal shards, burnt carrier bearings first!

are you sure about the miles??

Welcome & Good Luck!
 
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dude1116

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Hello everyone. Brand new to this forum and new to the KJ. Just bought a 02 Jeep Liberty Limited 4x4 124k miles for my daughter. 1st car!! So far I had to replace the upper and lower ball joints and both tie rods. Did all that myself. Very excited that I actually did all that. My next project is both rear wheel bearings. I have confirmation that my diff is the 8.25. When I spin the wheel there is nasty noise. Sounds like a machine gun. You can feel the noise with you hand as you spin. So here is my questions for everyone:

Is the bearing pressed into the axle housing? Or on the axle shaft itself? Does the race come out with the bearing or do I need to remove it separately? I know I can rent the slide hammer and the bearing set tool. What should I expect once I get down and dirty on this project.

Keep in mind I am not a mechanic but I love to work on this stuff. Love a challenge. Just want to be prepared. Thank you in advance for any advice.

Would love a video of the sound. It might be fairly normal unless happening while driving.

Also, the bearing and seal are in the axle housing. A slide hammer gets both out very easily. I would suggest Mopar seals and bearings due to their long life expectancy. (I changed mine just to change mine at 160k)
 

Dialtone74

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Would love a video of the sound. It might be fairly normal unless happening while driving.

Also, the bearing and seal are in the axle housing. A slide hammer gets both out very easily. I would suggest Mopar seals and bearings due to their long life expectancy. (I changed mine just to change mine at 160k)

Can you tell me if my axle has a C clip or retaining plate??
Its pretty noisy and I feel a lot of vibration when spinning.
 

rjkj2005

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The Dana 35 the axel bearing is pressed on to the axel. and seal is also on the axel with a retainer plate. Bearing must be cut off to replace bearing and or seal.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

rjkj2005

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The Dana 35 you do not have a c clip to remove. The axel will be unbolted at the axel end then the axel will slide out.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

rjkj2005

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Hello everyone. Brand new to this forum and new to the KJ. Just bought a 02 Jeep Liberty Limited 4x4 124k miles for my daughter. 1st car!! So far I had to replace the upper and lower ball joints and both tie rods. Did all that myself. Very excited that I actually did all that. My next project is both rear wheel bearings. I have confirmation that my diff is the 8.25. When I spin the wheel there is nasty noise. Sounds like a machine gun. You can feel the noise with you hand as you spin. So here is my questions for everyone:

Is the bearing pressed into the axle housing? Or on the axle shaft itself? Does the race come out with the bearing or do I need to remove it separately? I know I can rent the slide hammer and the bearing set tool. What should I expect once I get down and dirty on this project.

Keep in mind I am not a mechanic but I love to work on this stuff. Love a challenge. Just want to be prepared. Thank you in advance for any advice.
02 did not come with the 8.25. but if you do have the 8.25. Yes it has c clips that must be removed to remove the Axel's. The bearing on an 8.25 are pressed in to the axel tube behind the seal.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

HoosierJeeper

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Almost all 02s have the 8.25...the D35 was just for the first few months if that even.
 

Dialtone74

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I just replaced both axle bearings today. Very easy job once I rented all the correct tools. I do have a 8.25 diff and its a 2002. C clips were there and the bearings were inside the axle housing. Not I have no up and down movement. Very quiet when I spin the tires. Bearings were bad...

Thanks for all the info. Made the job easy.
 
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