Rear wheel bearings.
 

So 2 months ago i had a slight mishap with my rearend. For some odd reason my limited slip decided it wanted to come apart on me.

Replaced the limited slip carrier with a posi locker. Cleaned out the hosing the best i could. Replaced wheel bearings and seals.

Fast forward 2 months. Have had no issues with the rearend till a week ago. Noticed new seals were leaking. Pull it all back apart to find out my bearings went out on me. Not just one side. But both. Truck is a daily driver. Driver an hour to and from work 6 days a week. So ive got a few thosand miles on the new bearing. Tried to stay off rough rounds. As much as possible. Not sure how the bearings could have gone bad this quick.

With the rear bearings the question is. To grease or not to grease. Wondering if the failure was do to not enough lube getting around the bearings.

First picture is driver side second picture is pass side.

Re: Rear wheel bearings.
 

Wow, I don't think I have ever seen one like that. I would tend to think that is more than just not enough grease.

Re: Rear wheel bearings.
 

The bearings are lubricated by the gear oil in the differential.

What do the axle shafts look like? I will guess they are toast too.

Either existing metal got in there, the axle shafts were already damaged, or there wasn't enough oil in the differential.

Re: Rear wheel bearings.
 

The shafts are fine. The rearend had plenty of fluid up until the seals popped out from the bearings pressing them out. I installed new bearings yesterday. Before i installed the seals. I checked to see if there was any movement in my axles. Everything is still nice and tight. Im figuring i bought the wrong cheap set of bearing. I shouldnt have bought them off amazon.

Re: Rear wheel bearings.
 

How can the axles be fine? They must have some kind of damage to them where they ride on the bearing.

The axles need to be smooth. No nicks, cuts, scratches, or gouges.

Re: Rear wheel bearings.
 

Both axles are smooth. No nicks dings divits ridges. Where the bearings ride are smooth. No lip until the first stepdown on the axle. So axles are fine. I thought maybe the axles where wore down. But they are not. Unless previous owner replaced them.

Re: Rear wheel bearings.
 

I'd need to see pictures of the bearing surface of the axles before I'd believe it.
If there's really no damage to the bearing and seal surfaces of the axles I'd buy a lottery ticket because lady luck is smiling on you.