Wheel bearing kit incompatibilities?

[demby123]

I've been replacing lots of components on my 86' SR5 in order to restore a bit of its original feel. After pulling the rear axle out to swap out the bearings with the kit from Z1 performance, I've run into a bit of a stump... I'm not sure exactly what is what, I believe these massive things are for the GTS as nothing similar came out on my axle when I pulled it, if so, the kit was supposed to come with a "retainer" which is the name for two different things according to the FSM. Also, it came with seals that were different from the ones I pulled from the axle housing, I'm assuming these are for the GTS as well. Now I've done wheel bearings on cars before, but i'm pretty new to live axle work in general, so I have a few questions.

Is the "retainer" simply the plate that holds the axle in at the hub? where is this other retainer?Should there be another piece to the set? I think its what's under the bearing itself but I'm not sure...

Since the wheel seal that came out is the exact size of the front wheel seal, could I order front wheel seals and use them in the rear axle? After ordering one wheel seal from orielly's (f-bombed it up thinking it was to be fitted similar to my jetta, which wraps around the edge, this was driven in), it seems to call for the larger seals below, although that could've been due to the wrong sizing by me (didn't know the exact size as i hadn't pulled the axles at this point).

This was an SR5 kit, but I think the GTS bearing was packaged in as well for some odd reason, along with GTS wheel seals.

Wheel seals. Left is the old seal pulled from the axle, Right is a new seal from oreilly's

New wheel bearings from the kit, Right matches the current bearing, Left is probably a GTS bearing.


And finally here's my axle.

[demby123]

Hmm, just had another thought, I never actually checked to see if the smaller "bearing" could even spin, that might be the retainer to a gts bearing from what i've seen in photos just now.

[McKenney]

Those are gts bearings, not compatible with an sr5 diff

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[demby123]

Those are gts bearings, not compatible with an sr5 diff

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Would I be able to use the same wheel seal as the front for my rear axle? they're pretty much the same as far as i can see

[McKenney]

have them look up the bearing and seal for a 6.4" diff for a 1985 Corolla rwd sohc. Most parts guys are f-bombing idiots. I've been in the parts business for over 8 years and most of the guys I talk to are dumber than owners of the cars themselves!

[McKenney]

Is the "retainer" simply the plate that holds the axle in at the hub? where is this other retainer?Should there be another piece to the set? I think its what's under the bearing itself but I'm not sure...

the retainer is the ring that's on the differential side of the bearing. there is a raised lip behind the bearing on the hub side to stop it from going past the set point. the retainer pinches against the bearing and holds it in place as well as the axle in place.

[dr.occa]

McK is right. The retainer is the smaller ring that chases the wheel bearing on installation. Also, he's correct in that gts and sr5 rear wheel bearings are not interchangeable due to the fact that an sr5 rear end has a shallow bearing seat in the housing as opposed to the gts which is deeper. If you ran an sr5 rear bearing in a gts you'd be leaking diff fluid everywhere and end up burning up your bearings as well as a lot of axle slop and eventual failure. Gts bearings in sr5 housing just won't fit.

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[demby123]

Another question, does anyone know a machine shop that will pull and press the new bearings on? The one's I've called don't do axle bearings.

[McKenney]

Triple a muffler on broadway in garland, 972)240-6076

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