Background

• My first time doing anything other than draining gear oil with any diff cover off.
• Which (obviously) makes it my first time removing axle shafts.
• Which makes it my first time doing seals/bearings (and I'm not very familiar with bearings of any sort)

Confession
I drove my truck too far/long with a noise which I could not at first pinpoint (see my first post ever on this forum in which asked about a dichotomous key). It is no longer a daily driver, but was needed sometimes as our only truck and sometimes as the only available vehicle.

Diagnosis
Ultimately I pinpointed the noise to the rear driver side, and - coupled with a leak that looked like a dog had marked his territory on the inside of the wheel - I figured (with help of this forum) that the most logical thing was a bad axle seal and - with the clunking - a bad bearing. I decided to replace seals & bearings on both sides

Procedure

• After fighting with a rounded off lug nut (another first for me), royally screwing up my dealing with said nut, and ending up annihilating a lug stud that I had to replace, I got the wheels off.
• In the differential, I removed the shaft (pin) lock screw, and the shaft (pin). [AMATEUR TIP: If your differential shaft (pin) does not fall out or easily push out like you see in all the videos, and you have a lot of play when you move your wheel hub up & down (which is part of what helped you diagnose that the axle bearing is bad), prop up (I used my jack) your wheel hub so that it centers the axle shaft inside the axle tube. That seems to relieve just enough pressure so you can push out the differential shaft (pin).]
• The passenger side axle shaft was easy to push in so that I could remove the C-ring holding it in inside the differential.
• The driver (culprit) side axle shaft would not push in. I ended up having to beat on the hub with a rubber mallet while jiggling the axle shaft up and down, but it finally moved in enough to remove the C-ring.
• Passenger side axle shaft slid out easily.
• Driver side axle shaft would not pull out. It still had play up & down, but would not come out. I finally, very carefully making sure I was not prying on anything bendable, used the tire iron and got it to come out.

Result
I saw a deep groove encircling the axle shaft not far in. I was not pleased, but not entirely surprised.
I expected to find bearing rollers loose inside the axle tube, as I surmised those would be the culprits for why that shaft did not want to be pushed in or pulled out. However, I was surprised to find all the rollers still in the bearing! And that the bearing would spin when I moved it by hand!

Confession, revisited

Groovy

Again, being ignorant of axle shafts and most things surrounding bearings themselves:

QUESTIONS

1. Can anyone explain to me how/why a bearing that seems intact and otherwise functional would chew up a shaft like that?
2. When purchasing, I don't necessarily go for the least expensive because it is often also the cheapest (there is a distinction in my book). I also don't always go for the most expensive because A) I usually can't afford it or otherwise don't want to spend it because B) the most expensive doesn't mean it's the best. (Or even if it is the best, that ol' "law of diminishing returns" comes into play.) That said, on RockAuto I see new axles ranging from $73 (Ultra-Power) to $288 (Mopar) with a few in between. If you were to buy a new one - from RockAuto or elsewhere - which one/what brand would you buy (and why)?
3. Is an axle shaft something that is easy to eyeball whether it is good or bad? In other words, is purchasing one from a junkyard a good route to go if the axle shaft looks good?
4. Can you re-use lug studs? (In my above mentioned adventure with lug studs, I first tried one cheap aftermarket [cough...Dorman...cough] lug stud that stripped as I was installing it. So I bought some NOS Mopar ones from ebay and installed one. If I could salvage the ones from the bad shaft [the new one as well as the other four] that would be great - either to use on a new axle shaft if it doesn't come with studs, or to save for any future issues with any lug studs. But if re-use is unsafe, I don't want to try.)
5. Other than removing the old bearings and seals (both sides) and a good cleaning out of the axle tubes & differential of grime and metal sludge, is there anything else I should do or be concerned with before putting this all back together?

 

I'd get the Dana one for the 9.25" which is only a few bucks more than the bottom price one and has a reputable company name to it. It might be made in India or China as well but I positively assume there is at least a little QC along the way. Between the time to go to the junkyard and pull the axle shaft plus whatever you pay there having it show up on your doorstep is the better deal IMO. Add a bearing and new lug studs and you're set for ~ $100.

Edit: You need an axle seal too

 

It shouldn't be hard to get one in a junk yard. Get new bearings/seals for both sides and you will be golden.

 

Thanks y'all.

I still have the new bearings and seals in the boxes, ready to be installed, since that was the original point of starting this adventure.

I'm trying to compile a list of parts for the entire truck - either needed or "it wouldn't hurt to have" - that might be worth getting from a junkyard. That way I could try to make the most of one trip, and possibly get a discount for getting a lot of parts at once? (I don't know - it's been a hundred years since I've been to a junkyard.)

A local LKQ Pick Your Part shows having an '01 for which the build sheet I pull up online indicates came with a "Corporate 9.25 LD Rear Axle" just like mine. But the junkyard one has a 3.55 ratio while mine has a 4.10. So I assume that the entire diff internals would not be usable by me, but would the axle shafts be the same?

 

Everything would be useable except the gears. Everything else is essentially the same.

 

Good on you OP, you're learning a lot and doing everything right from what I see.

A used axle is easy to judge condition. Primarily you want no groove where your groove resides, and just look down it's length like you would a piece of lumber or pool cue for any bend. I'd definitely try for used here as I'd trust old OEM more than new UltraPower (which seems to essentially be Dorman in many cases)

I have no idea why your bearing clearly seized if it spins in-hand and is intact. I'm wondering if your housing is bent but even then I'm having a bit of a hard time seeing how a bent housing would prevent that bearing from spinning.

Also McGard makes solid one-piece lugnuts as God intended. Order 20. Seriously. Best and easiest upgrade you'll ever do. Today. Order now. Thank me later. You'll be SOOOO happy 😊

https://smile.amazon.com/McGard-6401...35&sr=1-1&th=1

If you don't get those then order the specialty 18.5/19.5mm flip socket for swollen lugs and lugs missing the cap

 

As for your question #4 regarding lug studs, I don't really see any problem with reusing them if you don't mushroom them pounding them out. Again, used OEM is likely superior to new Chinesium

Typically my mentality has been if I took the time to pound out the old ones they're not going back in, but if the new Dorman stuff is failing, I'd absolutely reuse original. Let's face it, Dorman fasteners like lugnuts and lug studs are EVERYWHERE and often all you can get in any reasonable time frame. I've certainly used them in other applications, as much as I hate Dorman. I bet 99% of indy shops and even a percentage of dealers use them in a pinch. Don't think the AutoZone and O'Reilly trucks don't visit dealerships....and NAPA Solutions is just Dorman....you can tell from the barely-modified part numbers.

 

Thanks again - y'all are awesome.

The same LKQ yard shows a 2005 whose build sheet indicates a 9.25. I downloaded the parts manual for it and - unless I'm reading all of these parts manuals wrongly - I see that the part number for the 2005 axle shaft is 52067614AB. The part number for my 2001 is 52067614.

Most online parts sites (e.g. RockAuto) seem to indicate that the 52067614AB and 52067614AC are supersessions of the 52067614.
However, some (e.g. the official genuine Mopar parts site) show that the AC is a supersession of the AB, but that it does NOT fit my particular 2001.

Does anyone know the truth or how to find it?

 

Keith, as for your "used OEM is likely superior to new Chinesium" comment, I agree. The NOS OEM studs I got from ebay were at a GREAT price and I bought 8. One I used on what I now know is a shot axle shaft. I was hoping to keep the other 7 for any future use of having to replace the odd stud, so I figured/was hoping that stash would last the life of the truck or of me.

I would hate to have to use 5 of the 7 on a replacement new axle shaft and then only have 2 extras without having asked if it is OK to re-use studs. Maybe if I go the new shaft route I could use these NOS studs on it, then remove and keep the used ones from my shot axle shaft for any potential future urgent use.

Of course if I go with a shaft from the junkyard, hopefully it'll have 5 perfectly good lug studs on it so I won't have to dip into my reserve.

 

As for the part numbers you are correct that AA-AB-AC are revisions of a part. The parts interchange and typically you can't get the older versions anymore from the dealer. If a part is dimensionally or functionally different it gets a different part number.