RichJ

I just pulled one of the rear axles of my 95 Camaro to fix a leaking axle seal (oil all over the brakes). Never done this before, but it all came apart really easily. Now I'm looking at the wear patterns on the axle and wondering whether it is okay to reuse, and whether it shows signs of having had an offset bearing used already. Below are pictures of everything.

Can anyone tell whether I have an offset bearing already installed? It almost looks like the axle has bearing wear in two places on the wheel end, though I've never seen one of these before to know.

Do the wear bearing patterns on the axle look normal? The surfaces feel smooth where they appear worn, not rough or galled. Not sure if this polished appearance is normal though.

Should I just replace the seal and leave the bearing alone? If I replace the bearing, should I do the offset Timken?

I also found gear oil all over the top half of the diff cover. I have no idea how that got there, though the cover bolts seemed really loose. In fact, the bolt holding in the diff pin, which I was worried about stripping, turned out to be finger tight!

Anyway, before I start buying parts, I'd appreciate any advice. This is my first time working on a rear.

Thanks,
RichJ

Stock axle from 95 Camaro 10-bolt (wheel end):



Stock axle from 95 Camaro 10-bolt (diff end):



Leaky axle seal:

FirstYrLS1Z

An 'offset'(called an axle saver)bearing typically sticks out of the axle housing. Based on the greasy/dirty pic of the housing end and the fact that it came apart easily. I'm guessing NOT an offset bearing. A regular bearing/seal sits flush with the housing end.
Axle saver bearings cause re-assembly difficulty and dis-assembly impossible. wipe off the axle and housing end and post pics of them clean. The axle doesn't look bad enough to have to use axle saver bearing.

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/dri...arings-885488/

what a bad axle looks like

RichJ

Thanks. It may not be clear from my dirty photo, but the seal does stick out around 1/4" from the end plate. Why is disassembly difficult with the axle saver bearing? Do you mean it is hard to knock out the axle saver later, or the axle is difficult to pull out?

FirstYrLS1Z

I work on our little 10 bolt rears and watch the forums concerning them.
An axle saver bearing causes the axle to be pushed outward a little from it normal operating position. Being that the axles are forced to be outward a little,most of the time the c-clips are difficult to install and 'impossible' to remove when it comes time to do another rear repair.When you stated it came apart easy,I guessed the c-clips came out easily.
There are many horror stories on the ls1tech site about frustration trying to get the axles out after axle saver bearings were used.

FirstYrLS1Z

Oh,and to answer your original question,if that were mine,I would polish it up with 400grit paper and use it since it doesn't have the deterioration shown in the pic I posted.

RichJ

Got it. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

RichJ

Got it all back together. This turned out to be a surprisingly easy job. It definitely took time and I found a lot of sloppiness in the work of whomever last had this apart, but it wasn't nearly as scary as I expected. I ended up just replacing the seal and leaving the axle and bearing alone. If the bearings ever have issues, now I know this is a job I can handle. Thanks all.