Checking the condition of the rear pinion bearing?

[Rio_Grande]

Hello gentelmen.

I have had a few pinion bearings go out in other vehicles and there was no doubt they were going out. Leaky pinion seal excessive heat after driving and vibration.

This last 2 or so weeks on my 99 psd I have been noticing what i though may be a wheelbearing in the rear going bad. Little nooise and vibration at 50-60 mph, not much else anywhere else. I checked the outer bearings for play and found none. I noticed that my tiers were over due for a rotation and sent her in for my 6.00 rotation and balance.

When my wife went back to pick the truck up the fella at the shop told her the truck has a serious issue with the rear pinion bearing. That is was so bad that you could see it raising and lowering a half inch when they were messing with the tires.
Supprised but willing to accept it if true I crawled under the truck today and found no signs of this being true. The only thing I havent done yet is lift the back end and get all bind out of the system.

I have checked the slop in the drive shaft and found it less than 1/16 of a rotation, I can press up and down in and out and there is no movement of the pinion shaft other than normal rotation. I figure tomorrow I will get the weight off of the tires and get out the dial indicator if need be.

As usual, this truck cannot be down for any extended period of time but I am not gonna try these my self.

Is there any other for sure way to check the pinion bearings to determine if they are bad?

thanks

 

[DaveBen]

This sounds like the guys were trying to take advantage of your wife's lack of knowledge about trucks. Seen it before and we will see it again. Don't buy it unless YOU find it for yourself. If not a call to the tire shop will be in order.

Dave

 

[BigRedJeep]

no offence to the guys at the tire shops but they do tires. they are not mechanics.

 

[BIG DUTY]

Well I know it was not a Sears Auto Center (I work there). If it was it would have been free if you bought the tires there or $60 if you didnt (Rip off). Any way from my first hand knowledge, tire techs dont know enough to diagnose driveline problems. So by michigan law they can neither suggest nor require any repairs. But in the rare case a certified tech looked at the car it is a different story. Any easy way to see if their claim is worth anything is to call the shop and talk to them. See if they have a certified mechanic working there. If not than its not a trustworthy claim. This is just my .02 but i know at the Sears im at, we only do driveline evals if the customer requests them or the tire tech points an obvious problem out to our certified tech. We cant say anything to a customer unless a true mechanic certifies it as a problem.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Thanks for the replies. I looked the truck over today and cannot find an obvious issue. I am sending it in on Friday for a annual once over for my DOT inspection and will mention to him the concerns. We will see.