I had the rear end rebuilt a few years ago but didnt replace the seals since they weren’t leaking. other than a locker i belI’ve its stock.
So you pulled the axles and took the center section out? Had someone put new gears, bearings, and a locker in? I’m surprised they didn’t suggest you replace the seals and bearings at the same time.
Seals will eventually leak. Sealed ball bearings will eventually wear out.
We know that around here, because lots of people have lost axles going down the road when their bearings disintegrated. The Lucky among us, discovered that the bearings were toast while doing general maintenance.
Generally speaking, if your bearings have 100k miles or more, they need to be replaced.
As you may have just found out…
Was out yesterday in the desert here and had some smoking when i went to air down so im thinking the shoes are pretty well saturated.
Very likely. But even more likely, the smoke you saw was the destroyed bearing heating up and burning gear oil.
Make sure you check the condition of the axle shaft underneath for overheating and scoring. Post some pictures up here for discussion.
Was the Bronco also loaded up for an outing?
Usually the catastrophic failures occur under just a few circumstances. More heavily loaded than normal, or towing. Hot weather, or a bit of a high speed freeway jaunt.
In your case, maybe multiples of the above!
Even though it’s not normally convenient, you’re not driving the vehicle at the moment anyway.
So I would remove the old bearings to check the axle shafts first. Before you buy all new parts.
You might end up needing at least one new axle shaft. Many of them come with bearings already installed.
