The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1954 1/2-ton rear axle bearing

I honestly can't see that this “washer” is actually setting the clearance on the bearing, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

The only thing holding the axle bearing in is a press fit into the axle housing to the bearing retainer (washer) highlighted in red in the drawing, followed by the axle seal. The axle housing is machined with a shoulder for this washer to seat against preventing the bearing from going any further into the housing.

The axles float in the bearings with the clearance set by the block between the two axle shafts in the pumpkin. This block comes in different sizes to set this clearance.

Additionally, the shop manual doesn’t mention anything about setting a clearance when replacing the axle bearings or oil seals. In section 4-4.

When I removed and machined my axles to install ‘37 Buick inner bearing sleeves which match the OD of the original, I made a drawing of these dimensions . Here is that drawing with the washer highlighted in red.