8 1/4 axle bearing help

[sdweatherman]

Got a mystery for all of you. My 8 1/4 axle in my 1971 Sebring Plus has a casting number of 2852905. I went to purchase the outer bearings and seals, and they are too small. I double checked at several parts sites and the recommended bearings for the 8 1/4 have an inside dia of 1.4 inches, and an outside dia of 2.25 inches. Using a tape measure, I can easily see from the actual inner axle that the dia is closer to 1.5 inches, and the measurement from the axle housing shows close to 2.5 inches for the outer dia of the bearing. Has anyone run across this discrepancy before???

2852905 shows up as 69-70 B-body, which doesn't surprise me because my car is an Aug '70 build. I checked for bearing size on 70 Satellites, and it also shows the 1.4/2.25 dia bearings. I am at a loss..... I have been searching for an 8 1/4 axle application that requires larger bearings, but have not found anything yet.

Thanks, Scott.

 

[sdweatherman]

Got it figured out. I have a later B-body axle (75 or 76) and the bearings that are recommended for that application fit like a glove. Scott.

 

[Kernel Sanders]

Thank you
I had no idea that these bearings / housing ends changed and the bearings were different.

 

[barnfind]

Used from 1969 to the 90s, there was a spline count change in 97 (for jeeps I think) 27 to 29. I didnt know about the bearing change, thanks SD.

 

[sdweatherman]

I am wondering myself if the bearing size data that the auto parts stores have is incorrect for this application. Once again, my 8 1/4" axle required outer axle bearings that were right around 2.5 inches in diameter. The auto parts store data says that they are supposed to be around 2.25 inches in diameter. I sure would like to hear from anyone else that has an early 70s 8 1/4" axle on what size outer axle bearings you have. Thanks for the help!