Rear axle bearing cup fits completely loose

[Art Bailey]

Hey Folks,

 

During the process of stripping down the rear axle on the '48 DeSoto, to get ready for new brakes, I decided to do some preemptive maintenance, have a look at the bearings, and toss in new oil seals, etc. I got the brake backing plate off, gave the axle on the RH side a tug, and it came clear out, bearings, cup and all with no effort. I’ve never tackled this job before, but I knew that wasn’t supposed to happen.

 

The LH side needed a slide hammer to break the bearing cup loose from its press fit, as it’s supposed to. I did some comparing. Both cups from either side measure identically, about 2.880, close enough, I guess, to the 2.876 listed in the parts book. 

 

Measuring the cylinder that the cup presses into on the LH side, I get +/- 2.865. The RH side, however, is +/-  2.910. The cup can be placed in the RH hole easily, no effort, and sits in there really sloppy.

 

So, in the parts book, the cup listed for normal cars measures 2.876. 7 Sed., Limo and Sub. Sed. takes a 2.9385 cup. I’m looking at the drawings in the parts book, it looks as if the axle housing could be pressed into the pumpkin. Is it possible that I have a limo axle housing on the right side, and a normal one on the left?  Or, is it possible that the bearing froze up at some point, and the PO kept driving it, wearing the hole out bigger? 

 

I guess the main question is, how do I deal with this? Should I get the 7 pass. cup and see if it presses in, or am I shopping for a new rear end, or what? Thanks…

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by ratbailey

[Young Ed]

Take a punch and make some dimples. It creates a raised area that will make the bearing race a tight fit again 

[Art Bailey]

7 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

Take a punch and make some dimples. It creates a raised area that will make the bearing race a tight fit again 

Sounds good. I did some reading over at the HAMB, another suggestion is to shim it and/or use loctite. It seems that freezing up a bearing is the most likely cause of this...never happened to me with all the junk I've ever owned, but it's seems pretty common.