I have my rear differential out of the car and on the bench,
and since the whole thing is 30 years old, I decided to do
the stub axle and pinion seals while it was out. The pinion
seal was pretty darn easy.

The stub axle seals were a little bit trickier. Me or one
of my helpers managed to damage a race while taking out a
seal, so I need a new bearing and race - no big deal. I do
have two questions:

1) Do the bearings need greased? I put one side back
together and lightly packed the bearing with grease. It was
the outboard roller bearing. I then installed the seal.
However, it seems like the bearing is also lubricated by
differential oil. Was I supposed to grease the bearing? Do
I need to remove the seal (which will destroy it) and wash
out the grease?

2) The stub axles have at least one little groove worn into
the shaft. This groove appears to be from the old stub axle
oil seal. What do I do? It's too deep to sand out with
emery paper or steel wool, but it's still a pretty light groove.

3) The book says to replace the race and inner cone
together, and that they should not be mixed. However,
everywhere I look, you have to buy the race and inner cone
separately. What's going on with that?

4) What brand is best? The two I know is Timken and
National - and I don't know much more than their names. The
OEM bearings were Timken, and they look perfect, so I am
leaning towards replacing with the Timken bearings. That is
all hinged on the assumption that Timken bearings today are
as good as they were 30 years ago.

 

I always lightly grease the bearings/seal.

I ONLY use Timken, unless push comes to shove, then NTN or SKF.

The groove "MAY" not damage the new seal, but as you are on the ground, and I am waaaay down here, it will be your call. A "Speedi Sleeve" will repair that area, IF you can find one in the size required. On our 600000km S2 V12, I put the stubs in the lathe and "polished" that surface, 600 wet and dry paper, with Kero lube, and 10 years later all dry.

"Cup and cone" as seperate items is NORMAL. I NEVER mix brands, other than that go for it.

Bearing manufacturing with the "known" brands has not changed in 100 years.

Have a looooooong drink, calm the nerves, its a Jaguar, she will love you forever, I am now on Jag #16 and have NO idea of other brands.

 

Thanks for the info! I feel a little better about greasing the bearings and seal.

I took a stub axles to one of the diesel mechanics where I work. He grabbed it, put it under a wire wheel for a couple seconds (my stomach fell immediately) and then showed it to me - it looks like that groove was cut into junk (oil, rubber, paint, etc) on the stub axle. He told me to use a little emery cloth or high-grit sandpaper on it and it should be 100%. I believe he's right. Wish I had access to a lathe, but I don't, so I guess the sandpaper will have to do.

I was reading about different bearing brands, and there seem to be people that suggest both Timken and National. I am thinking that I can't go wrong with either one. BTW, Timken does have a couple plants in China - not sure about National.