[tommyp]

Hi All,

Car is Suzuki Sierra SJ413

Had issues with noise out of my rear end, scared it was the diff but not tech savy enough to risk pulling that apart. Instead i got advice that it may be the rear wheel bearings. So following the service manual and advice on the forum, I pulled the axles (fair bit of oil in one of the brake drums.. makes me suspect this was a decent diagnosis?) i cut away old bearings and retainer, changed the oil seal (kept the old oil seal retainer/protector as it didn't appear damaged). Went to my local shop and got the new bearing and retainer pressed on. Confident the bearings and retainers went onto the axle the correct way as i took photos of the old set-up and its the same. Drivers side rear axle (short side) went straight back in seated properly with a few light taps with my hammer.

The passenger side (which was the one with oil in the drum) wont seat into the housing, it gets stuck right as the bearing should enter into the axle housing (ie it wont seat by about 20mm). No apparent distortion to the axle housing and no difference in the pressed bearing position. I have hit it to hell with a hammer and it wont go. So far i have tried:
- checked the oil seal is seated properly
- checked the bearing and retainer are pressed properly
- Tried putting the shorter axle into this side to see if it was some interference in the diff and it also wont seat.
So as far as i can work out it has to be the bearing diameter into the axle housing or the retainer diameter into the oil seal... For the life of me i cant work out what the issue could be. Does anyone have any advice?

My next thought is to setup a jack against my wall and jack against it to really force it to go in... i cannot think of any other reason why it wont go!!! HELP!!!!

[bumstein]

Post some pics of the bits and the placement. Might give us an idea of any parts that aren't quite in place or spot something that might be causing it.

The only thing that springs to mind is if the spacer is missing on the outer side of the bearing. I've forgotten to put the spacer back once and it drove me nuts!!

Can you feel if it's positively locating the axle in the appropriate spot in the diff?

I wouldn't force it, just asking for something to get damaged. If it doesn't go with a few gentle taps with the knockometer then something's not right.

[MrRocky]

You have to pull down on the drum to get the axle in the right spot as it goes into the diff center.
I have had to kick in a few rears with some force just dont kick it off the axle stands

[tommyp]

thanks for the advice guys,

turns out i made a tiny lip on the upper outer edge of the axle housing while trying to pry out the oil seal and it was enough to stop the bearing seating. Bit of fine sand paper and worked it back so its gone. Should be fine as it is the outer edge, dont think i will have caused an issue for seating or sealing.

thanks for the help!!