Rear Axle Replacement Question

[lordathey]

I'm going to be swapping out my stock axles for the yukon replacements. This is my first time doing this and I'm wondering if I need to replace the axle bearings as well. The truck has 60,000 miles on it and I don't see why I would need to change the bearings since there haven't been any failures. I tried to look online and found no advice on this topic. Let me know!

[Mike GMC]

Replace the bearings and seals.  They aren't very expensive and you'll kick yourself later if you have an issue and have to rip it all back apart again.

[hirdlej]

Don't touch the bearings.  Seals I would replace as they conform to the axle surface.  It's an easy job, don't sweat it.

 

[Justin101714]

Why are you replacing the axles anyway?


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[lordathey]

9 hours ago, Justin101714 said:

Why are you replacing the axles anyway?


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I have the chevy shake and I need to put new brakes on the rear, so I figured I would do it all at one time. 

[PaulnDi]

I assume you are replacing the axle shafts, not the entire axles, correct?

[lordathey]

22 hours ago, PaulnDi said:

I assume you are replacing the axle shafts, not the entire axles, correct?

Correct axle shafts.

[Gagliano7]

I just did this on my 1992 chevy pickup and i replaced the bearings and seals. With the right tools it took 10 minutes to swap out the bearings. You will already have the axles out so you might as well change the bearings and seals. 

[GN2018]

Any time I have something worked on, I look for the other parts they may need replaced.  I do this because I pay people to work on my vehicles and a significant portion of the cost is labor.  For example, if a water pump goes bad and you have to remove hoses and belts, they get replaced.  In this case, I’d certainly replace the bearings and seals and anything else that I come across while doing the job.

 

However, you work on your own truck, so the question is how valuable is your time?  If I liked wrenching on cars and it was not a part that, if it failed, would strand me, then I might wait until another time.

[L86 All Terrain]

Your bearings should be fine. I would do seals only. Axle bearings on my class 8's and trailers usually have over a million KM on them before they wear out if maintained with clean oil. No reason at all the bearings should be gone in 60,000 miles unless you have a wear issue. Inspect bearings to be sure but you are probably fine. If AAM made them I would have them changed to aftermarket...   

[Chad2815]

Did the replacement axles help reduce the vibration?

[flyingfool]

try doing an ecu tune and an intake cleaning before wasting money on axles. nutshell media blast the intake. the shake is from the out of calibrated ecu, clean your MAF and check for the plastic flashing burrs  in the airflow stream of the maf body housing. this is a TSB fix 

Edited August 16, 2019 by flyingfool

[Yondu]

Can you post the tsb?  I can't even imagine how that would effect driveline vibration. 

[flyingfool]

its easy fix, requires a razorblade , to deburr the abs plastic flashing around the sensor, interferes with airflow measurement, not all truck have this issue, just pull it out and inspect it. 

Edited August 17, 2019 by flyingfool

[Darksky]

“The shake is from the out of calibrated ECU”  -Flying Fool.  huh?

 

My feet hurt.

You, Sir. Need a new hat.