I need to replace the wheel/axle bearing on the passenger rear (and seal).
I'll be doing both sides.
If my p-side axle is worn beyond what a light sanding can smooth and I need to use a repair bearing/seal,
Should I put repair bearing/seals on both axles?

 

I would try and keep stock specs when possible so no I would not.

 

OK. Thanks craby

 

new stock seal on the good axle would be something I would do. that way you could look at the surface to see if its ok.

 

I'm replacing both bearings and seals while the diff is drained, following the advice and logic to do them in pairs, if one is bad, the other may not be far off.

QUESTION 1:
I heard that different wheel sizes (across the car) can cause additional wear on the bearings and the diff. CAN UPSIZED WHEELS WITH LOW PROFILE TIRES CAUSE EXTRA WEAR ON THE DIFF? She came with 235/55R16, I put Mossa Mosaic wheels and Falken tires 245/40ZR18 on her probably 20 years ago. Just wondering.

QUESTION 2:
Pinion seal is leaking, (as well as the input shaft seal)
DOES THE DIFF NEED TO BE DRAINED FOR PINION SEAL REPLACEMENT?
Or can I work on that at another time? She's my only transportation (I'm also currently working on my cousin's timing belt on her Odyssey) and I don't want to leave her out of the garage in the driveway on jack stands. With my chronic pain issues, I hoping (desperately) that I can get the axles done in one day (1 day of working=3-5 days to get back to 'normal' pain level). It took 11+ hours to change the passenger side front sway bar end link...I didn't realize that shade-tree mechanic-ing was such a perishable skill, lol. Dayum!

She's got 96.5k miles on her and through all my research (still trying to find the "whoosh-whoosh-whoosh" noise from before, posted thread 06/2022 @96k miles) I did get confirmation from Firestone when I replaced all my tires a couple weeks ago that the rear passenger side does have wiggle play (though the Goodyear guys said it didn't when changing the diff fluid in Nov., go figure). I found play in that wheel last month myself, but didn't say anything to the Firestone guys when they were installing my new Falkens, I wanted to see if they would notice, they did.
Those Falkens lasted 10 years, originally bought March 2013. When inspecting the tires for the possible noise issue, I noticed one was more worn than the others and found that Falken requests replacement after 10 years, so I did them all this March.

I'm done rambling, for now.

 

If it was me I'd want to pull the cover and drain the fluid to have a good look for any other damage like a pinion shaft bearing getting ready to fail.
I'd want to see if there's any metal floating around in the oil etc.
You could probably do it (put a tray under to avoid a possible mess on the ground) but IMO it'll be a halfassed job and you may miss a disaster waiting to happen.
Just my 2cts.

 

so long as the tires on both sides are the same your good to go. different size tires on the rear, meaning one on right side is different hight then the left, it will cause problems with the differential.

 

@craby thanks, I thought so, just double checking (aka overthinking it, lol@)
@Y2Keglide I will definitely be checking the fluid and magnet thoroughly for 'unusual' debris when doing the axles. I'll follow your suggestion to inspect the inards as well. As far as checking the inside bearing (where the pinion crush sleeve and seal are), I don't really know what to look for, other than pitting on the rollers.

Q: Can this inner bearing be inspected while diff is open? What should I look for?

If the bearing needs replaced, I'll probably have to have a real mechanic do the change, I've read that this can seriously screw up your diff if you don't know what you're doing, and in this regard, I don't, so it would be best to know before I take the time to change the pinion and input shaft seals (both are leaking).

Thanks for help, guys. It is much appreciated.

 

you may want to call around the local wrecking yards and you pull yards and see if there is a whole differential unit in good shape for a good price. never know you might get lucky. way easy to change the whole thing, hardest part would be transferring brake stuff.

 

Yeah that's a job for a pro but you can look for pitting or missing rollers,a lot of metal in the juice is a bad sign. Craby has a good point on getting a whole unil at a yard if yours is bad.