Rear bearing gone? Replace whole assembly?

[virtualron1976]

Dropped my truck off at a shop for an engine enhancement/tune. Got a super surprise message back I need validation on from the page. See below. Rear drivers side hub/bearing is gone, saying whole assembly should be replaced.
 

Sound right? Thx in advance.
 

 

“We’ve noticed the drivers sides rear axle was leaking fluid when we moved the truck yesterday.  We pulled off the wheel/axle thinking it was just a bad seal.  However, inside axle tube, the wheel bearing is completely torn apart.  There is no bearings left in the bearing case.  So essentially the axle was riding around inside the tube with no bearings.  No one here has ever seen that happen before.  The inside of the differential tube is destroyed. Basically the entire rear axle housing needs replacement because of that. “

[evad]

oh my...what the...HOW on earth ??????

 

[CamGTP]

Well, technically it's not "destroyed".

 

You could clean all that up and make it smooth there again, then pound in a new axle bearing because the rear axle rides on the bearings that are held in that bearing case.

 

[virtualron1976]

The tube is no longer round. Oblong.
 

Where did the bearings go?
 

the wheel did take an impact 2 years ago when someone ran a stop sign and hit my wheel. I never felt any shimmy or shake at all - that is what drives me crazy. Maybe 10k miles since hit that tho. Baffling! 

[CamGTP]

Pull the diff cover, see what you find in the bottom. Might be chunks of metal in there.

 

If it's oblonged, then yeah I guess you need a new rear axle.

[rlcole321]

The image doesn't really show "Out of Roundness", might be worth a try to have them clean it up and try a new bearing and seal, just monitor it, now if they do not want to try it, then short of having the truck towed back home for "DIY" then your stuck!

[stevejones]

Yep, looks ****ered to me.  Junkyard axle time!