Murphy's law.... A friend pressed the bearings on for me. One went on on The other ... The press broke. Got a new ram and the collar on the press broke. It only had 1/8" left to go. Off to a driveline shop $30 to press but the ring broke! Had to buy a new bearing and seal. 3 weeks later... When I got it home the seal was noticeably thinner than the ones I bought. I installed the axle with my seal and its nice. No in/out play. The axle with the seal from the driveline shop has 1/8" in/out play. I ordered another bearing and seal again. Ill have them press it on... Again
Dropped the axle off today, should have it back tomorrow. Here's a shot I took on the bumper of the truck before I brought them in. The one on the axle is the one that the driveline shop replaced mine with The one in my had is just like the one I have put back in the car already with no play, and it fits well. Also it looks just like the original ones! Fingers crossed, the car will be back on the ground by this weekend... I need some seat time..
She's on the ground!! Finished up about 11pm last night. Too late to start the car and test drive as the kids bedrooms are right above. For the future, if anyone runs into an issue like this, here's the difference in the seals The square'ish seal is the one that resulted in no in/out play in the axle. The rounded tapered seal left 1/8 in and out movement. The seal that worked was Timken 712146 Seal And the bearing was A9 Ive not done a test drive yet, the alternator is not charging and the car shuts off (I have a remote disconnect switch that turns off the battery in a drain situation)
The good news is that the new alternator looks and works great The bad news is that the noise for which I replaced the bearings for is still there!!! I even switched drums and rotated the tires front to back... Same noise. After new driveshaft and joints.. Bearings, brakes, oil with posi additive... I'm at a loss. I guess I'm headed to a shop again. Glad I never paid the $400 for bearings.
