Rare FIND!!!

[Heebs84]

View attachment 3
Swapped rear diffs and found ball bearings instead of taper bearings. Any one see this before??

 

[TheDan]

I have seen some rebuild kits for E85/E86 rear differential bearings which use two rows of ball bearings instead of the standard taper bearings (see image below). I am not sure what the reason behind using ball bearings instead of taper bearings and personally when I come to do my differential bearings I will be using taper bearings, but only because this is the stock/default bearing type.

 

[deltasierra]

They look like angular contact bearings, and would be pre loaded with either shims or a threaded adjuster. Probably lower friction than taper rollers.

 

[Heebs84]

My dad was surprised to see ball bearings. He’s a mechanic so he has done a rear diff or two My guess was that someone rebuilt it using an older rebuild kit or used whatever they had laying around that fit.