Hello everyone, little question about my rear end :
what's the technical reason of the bearing collar in the 7 1/4"?
Is it just there to stop the axial play or is there another reason?
How can I mount it? Heat & freeze? And is it a significant issue if I don't mount it (I guess I know the answer of that one)

Thanks for your help

Marc

That collar keeps the bearing on the axle. The bearing is held in the axle housing. To remove the wheel/tire/axle assembly from your moving vehicle you only have to slide the axle out of the bearing. The collar takes many tons of force to install. That press fit is all that retains the axle in the bearing which is retained in the axle housing. The factory 1966 Dart/Coronet service manual shows a special tool to install the collar. Most shops use a hydraulic press.

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Joshua

My 69 Dart came with no collars on the axles and I drove it for a decade like that. No grief.....I didn t even know that 7.25 had them until I went to change to a large pattern rear axle. What do the collars do?....not much by my experience......yours may differ...

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Wow, I wonder if that was a running change and they just made the beairng with the press fit?

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Joshua

I think somebody just neglected to reinstall them....and I followed suit.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Well, my bearing took tons to remove & replace it so I guess it depends on how tight the adjustment is...
Well I guess your bearings were press fitted and in that caseit doesn't need any collar...
Though putting one can't be bad...

I'm gonna put mine but... Did anyone made them fit with by heating them? Is that enough?
Thanks for your help

Marc

Adjustment?

I wouldn't heat the collar. It should have been pressed on right after the bearing.

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Joshua

The collar really should be pressed on there. If the bearing goes bad and is run at highway speed it can heat up enough that the inner race will expand and slide on the axle letting it come out. The collar will not let this happen. They put them on there for a reason. The bearings are not that tight of a press fit by themselves either, they cannot be or the inner race would stretch too much and affect the bearings clearance.

I can't really remember if my 7.25" axle on my '68 Dart had the collars or not. I did lose an axle on the highway before due to some broken ball bearings in a rear axle bearing, so either it didn't have the collar or it didn't help anyway. That axle is long gone, but I want to dig out my '68 factory service manual and see if there is any mention of it in there.