NEED SOME BEARING HELP !! Rebuilding my 68 442 convertible rear end. Took the axles to the NAPA store for new outer bearings. Brought them home. Pushed them into the axle tube. Tried to tighten up the 4 bolt retainer. The bearing is sticking out about an 1/8th of an inch and the retainer cannot tighten all the way up. It appears that the outer lip on the axle tube is roughly 17/32". The bearing seems to be closer to 3/4". Of course NAPA threw out the old bearings so nothing to compare them to... The outer retainer has a cup on it but it does not appear to fit over the new bearing and or the bearing seems to be too thick. I don't have the number handy but I believe he said it was a 1.3 ? I'm at a loss for what to do, please help!

 

Welcome to the site, I'm going to let one of the guys who are really familiar with rear ends help you out on your question.

 

The wheel bearing should be a Bower RW507C or equivalent.

I remember reading a while back about some bearings being too thick but I don't remember the details. I think Brian Trick was the one who posted the details, so if he doesn't chime in send him an e-mail and ask him about it.

It may also be the bearings were not pressed all the way onto the axle shafts, they used the wrong bearings, the axle seals are not pressed all the way into the axle tubes, or they erroneously put the later (1970) axle seals onto the shafts.

 

Question what was wrong with the old bearing?

Did you need a different axle shaft or is this the same one?

make sure there is not a burr in the axle tube end or anything else stopping the bearing from seating. is the axle shaft hitting the carrier cross shaft?

is the seal pressed all the way into the housing maybe you did not seat it all the way in ... I have also seen people put the seal in backwards.

Please show us some pictures and will try to help. Jim
J D