Rear End Bearings

[BillyGoatGruff]

Upon pulling my rear end apart to do a gear swap, what do I discover. The two bearings for the half shafts on each side of the 'pumpkin' show that they have a bit of wear on them. I have just over 3500 miles on my car and my rear bearings are damn near toast. I will send pics when they get developed, but be wary of the rear end. If it does not feel right. Get the service department to look into it. Pinion bearing looks fine. It is the two bearings on the sides of the diff unit that have wear on them.

[UBDSLO1]

sorry to hear about that man. too many burnouts??? :D

[BillyGoatGruff]

No actually. I am wondering if it could have been because I have not fixed the 'thunk in the trunk'. Other than that, I am totally confused upon why this could have happened. The rear never felt out of the ordinary.

[1COOLPC]

What kind of wear are you seeing? Would love to see a photo. Grooving? Bernelling?

[Adam4356]

Hmm, i'm really scratching my head on this one. How the heck could those be worn after so few miles ??

Let's see some pics and go from there.

[johmol]

Upon pulling my rear end apart to do a gear swap, what do I discover. The two bearings for the half shafts on each side of the 'pumpkin' show that they have a bit of wear on them. I have just over 3500 miles on my car and my rear bearings are damn near toast. I will send pics when they get developed, but be wary of the rear end. If it does not feel right. Get the service department to look into it. Pinion bearing looks fine. It is the two bearings on the sides of the diff unit that have wear on them.

Did you read my post on A4 exhaust vibration?? The rear end in my car is being replaced at 1600 miles. Vibration?? Don't know. I'll beleive it when its gone. Only thing i know is parts arrive tomorrow.

[gtofan]

See the "Rear Diff Information" string started by DY below. With all the bad things beginning to happen with rear ends, looks like it may have been prophetic.

[BillyGoatGruff]

It did not look so much like the bearings were completely trashed. The bearings are still usualble, it is the races for the bearings that are pressed into the rear end housing that have become scared and burned. There are a few pics below that show the scaring and burning of the races. Let me know experts what exactly is going on.

Passenger's side
http://www.norcal-ls1.com/multimedia/showphoto.php?photo=3668&size=big&password=&sort=1&thecat=

http://www.norcal-ls1.com/multimedia/showphoto.php?photo=3665&size=big&password=&sort=7&thecat=500

Driver's side
http://www.norcal-ls1.com/multimedia/showphoto.php?photo=3666&size=big&password=&sort=7&thecat=500

http://www.norcal-ls1.com/multimedia/showphoto.php?photo=3667&size=big&password=&sort=7&thecat=500