New rear bearing, still have play?

Okay, well I'm not sure if that would've damaged it. But the clarification is nice. Also I've never seen the bearing pressed on or off on these particular axles but I have done others and it definitely took a lot to press the new bearing on. So if your new bearing went onto the axle pretty easily that sounds like a red flag.
Weren't you looking for another axle to compare with? Or was that a different thread?

 

Yes, I’m looking for another axle shaft right now. I thought I had a lead on one, but it had been crushed....

 

As long as you're supporting the inner race of the bearing when pressing it onto the axle shaft, the bearing won't get damaged. In the videos I've made on this job, the outer retainer being pressed on at the same time with the special tool is supporting the inner race while the axle shaft is being driven through the bearing. These bearings brand new have some play and that is normal.

The people who did the work on your axle previously should be shot or at least thoroughly bludgeoned. I don't understand how shops will take on a job they have no clue how to properly do. Your axles are destroyed and there's no way I'd reuse those axles.

 

thanks for your input @Timmah! I’m assuming the little play you refer to is not like the play that I’m getting. Still trying to track down a new axle and debating whether or not to pull the other side, or leave well enough alone since it’s not showing any signs of play.

 

Maybe you can find a set of axles at a PickNPull and save some money. The chances are good the ones you pull off a wrecked rig will not have been mangled by some idiot gorilla mechanic like the one who destroyed your axles.

 

After a week of searching for new shafts, I was finally able to find two! One of the old shafts appeared fine, but I replaced it to be on the safe side. Both of the new ones look like they have never been touched. And if they had, they were pressed as they should have been.

One side is back together and ready to go. However, now I've run into a different problem. The other side is EXTREMELY hard to turn by hand. It does not move freely at all, even with it back in the housing. I've tried two different bearings, one that was brand new out of the box, and one I had previously pressed on as previously stated in the thread but was still 'new'. Both do not turn freely. I'm not entirely sure what I could have done wrong. I did notice that the inner retainer did not press on evenly for some reason, it was just barely cocked eyed. What gives?

 

well.. that my friend looks like its time for a new axle shaft..

 

i should learn to read the last post... derp

 

I wish I was of more help here. Hopefully someone can help out.
Is this the same side that had the worn out axle? I only ask just for clarity playing it out in my head

 

Unfortunately, yes. Same side as the worn out axle, but with a new/used untainted axle.

 

So while holding the backing plate, it is extremely hard to turn the axle? In and out of the housing?

The only thing that it could be is a bad bearing.

Can you post a picture or maybe draw a diagram of your pressing setup? Something must be off for you to have this many repeat issues on that side. Did you press a new bearing on the other side just fine?

 

Yes, this is correct!

I’ll post pictures. The other side pressed on fine, no issues. And the passenger side (the problem side) seemed to press on fine as well. I didn’t notice any big difference nor did it take extreme pressure to press it on. Could I have pressed it slightly too far causing too much pressure from a the retainer causing it to bind?

 

I believe you just press the bearing all the way on. The bearing retainer isn't really retaining the bearing, it's there to provide a surface for the oil seal. On the elocker axles, you don't actually push this up against the bearing because of this.
Did you reuse your old backing plate? Maybe that could be bent/warped and causing the issue.

 

Actually, there’s two retainers. One that you’re referring to that seats in the seal, but there another that butts up against the bearing.

yes, I had to reuse the original backing plate because the ones that came on the new to me axles were rusted through and completely unusable. This thought has crossed my mind as well.

 

After all the debacle, I went back and started at step one. By happen stance I found where I had everything needed for one bearing/seal job that I had forgotten about from a few years ago...i bought spares in case I needed them, then completely forgot about them I used this stroke of dumb luck and used the bearing I had forgotten about to start back over and make sure everything would be 100% right.

Everything is back together, and appears to be fine now. The bearing is tight and stiff, but turns freely with relative ease. Here's the conclusion(s) I've come to that caused the problems.

1) I may have exerted too much force to get the bearing into the backing plate. I went back and watched @Timmah! video where he used the new tool (more on that later), it's then i realized that the bearing should have went in much smoother than what I was experiencing. Tonight, I did a version of what he did in this video. Bearing went right in with very little pressure applied on the press, and fully seated from the weight of an old bearing and 1 1/4" impact socket stacked on top.

2) Before I pressed the bearing in the backing plate and onto the axle I used some very fine wet/dry sand paper on both the plate and axle shaft surface to make sure that the mating surface was smooth and free of any kind of obstruction that may possibly be on either surface.

3) I think the biggest issue was that I had pressed the bearing too far. I realized this after regrouping and taking a look at it today. I know I stopped pressing when I felt resistance, but either it came too late or I'm just a knuckle head and keep going. After watching @Timmah! video as stated earlier I realized that the new tool had a slit in the press sleeve so that you could see the progress as you were pressing. With this new knowledge, when I pressed the bearing and retainer back on I watched though the 'eye' until I saw the groove where the C-clip sits. As soon as it came into view, I stopped pressing. There's just enough room in the 'eye' that you can fit a small portion of the C-clip through it to see if the groove is exposed enough so that the clip can fully seat.

Also, I found that using a sharpie on the inner retainer works much better than the grease test to see a very clear line where the retainer is riding on the seal.
Thanks to everyone for the help! Another lesson learned. Now I cross my fingers and hope for no leaks

 

Glad to hear it and wow, what a job thenrear bearings end up being on these. Might be the most difficult repair it seems

 

It’s really not that bad of a job. Time consuming, yes, by the time you press everything off, then back on.... your but as far as difficult? Not too much unless you’re me, IMO

 

Good job getting it done. You should drop off the destroyed axles to the mechanic who did the work and tell him he should never touch another set of 1st Gen Tacoma or 3rd Gen 4runner axles. In my opinion, it was criminal to put those destroyed axles back on your rig. He should have owned up to destroying the axles and just bought new ones for you. You owe it to others to do a review of this guy's business and document the horrible work he did. If you do, add some pictures of your axles so people can see the crappy work this guy does. If he had no problem reinstalling those axles on your rig, what other shoddy work has this idiot done for other customers?