T Case Output Bearing Slop

[Glenn-BJ74]

I noticed my T-case output bearing has been loose over the last few months and it appears to be getting worse. Its now weeping oil motivating me to have a look.

I pulled out the drive shaft this weekend and undid the staked 32 mm nut. The staked nut is supposed to torqued to 94 ft/lbs, but when I undid the tabs, it came off fairly easily. Underneath the staked nut was a thick washer (0.193” thick). I don’t understand if the staked nut was supposed to be at 94 ft/lbs why was it so easy to undo ??

After pulled off the rear bearing retainer I examined the bearing and race. The bearing and race are not pitted, but their was some minor pitting just inside and outside of the bearing contact areas. I guess this is normal. What I don’t like is the end of the shaft is very loose. At its end the shaft wobbles around in a 1/8th inch circumferential radius, that is about ¼” side to-side.

What is causing this amount of play?

 

[Scalp]

Gary Telford had this problem of slop in the rear of his T.C. It got worse and eventually caused an annoying wobble of his gearshift lever when on the highway. Rob Millson took it apart and replaced the rear bearing in the T.C. I think it is OK now, problem solved. The T.C. can stay in the vehicle and just the back cover has to be removed for this repair. I also have a slight wobble in mine too, but it is not bad enough to do anything about yet. I replaced the leaking rear seal in the T.C. and that is good enough for now. For further info, talk to Dr. Rob .

 

[Mud_Guppie]

full kit for the rebuild is less then $300
(koyo bearings too)
any play at all is too much!
a little play will soon be a lot of play
a full rebuild is a simple job if you want to do it yourself. It you have some decent tools and can read the shop manual, it can be done in a day
yes, I have kit for it
yes,, a wobble is too much play

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

Good Diagram

For those that are interested, Ron R has a great diagram and discussion posted on the T-Case bearing preload shimming process. I suspect that is a cause of my problem and others' with sloppy output bearings. Maybe this is something that needs to be looked at and possibly adjusted every 100 -150 k. Mine has 130,000 km and its very loose.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/70-series-tech/251612-t-case-rear-output-bearing-slop.html