Good morning,
My good friend SWEET and I disassembled the 1957 truck axle and differential Thursday night. We made great progress and had it almost completely apart in an hour. We did, however, run into one stubborn area.
The axle seals and bearing look (according to the shop manual) like they are supposed to come out at the same time, using a slide hammer with a 3-jaw puller. We tried. No luck. Puller kept popping off the inside of the bearing,
The bearings themselves are open, roller type and there is a thin metal ring that is taller than the bearings that sits inside the axle tube adjacent to the bearings. I am pretty sure that this metal ring is the outside edge of the bearing itself, but wanted to check with you guys to see if I am maybe pulling on the wrong thing. Neither side wants to budge after several attempts.
Can anyone suggest another approach? I started hacking up one of the outside seals, trying to take it off first, but don't know if that's the right idea.
In a related question, when I search for wheel bearings for this truck, most places list only the one replacement bearing, which is not an open type and has the wrong bore size. I measured my axle at the bearing area and it measures 1.8-something. All the rear wheel bearings I am finding say the bore is 1.3 inches. Do I have an odd axle?
The pinion gear is stamped with "2 3 57 GM"
Thanks very much for your help.
Jim
