Someone out there must have run into this: I'm working on the rear axle for the 58 2.5 ton I'm repairing. I've got the 58 repair manual which describes in pretty good detail the process of disassembling, repairing and reassembling the hub, incl. bearings and seals. The manual shows the outer bearing as being held in place by a snap ring, but no snap ring on the inboard bearing. In actuality, the hub I just disassembled has a snap ring at the inner bearing, but none at the outer. What could explain this? Also, I was surprised to find that the inboard bearing uses the axle housing as the inner race, and in fact is only a 'partial' bearing consisting of a cage and rollers. That tells you that this is the first time I've looked at the innards of this type axle.
