Rear axle seal radial play

[ASJT3]

Folks, 93 K1500: both rear axle seals are leaking, and one of them is leaking after I installed it new a couple months ago. I’m concerned the axle shaft bearings may be worn? Truck has 290,000 miles. Radial play on both is about 0.010” according to my dial indicator. Is this excessive?

I also checked that the vent was not clogged just in case that was a factor.

[gmtech1]

There is noise associated with axle bearing wear. With the miles on the truck, I suspect there is a groove worn on the axle where the seal rides. If thats the case, the axle shaft will need replaced.

[Blue Bowtie]

There is such a thing as an "axle saver" bearing assembly for a 10-bolt, and those use a sealed bearing to replace the original open bearing. The philosophy is that the bearing inner seal will keep the axle oil in the housing, and the prepacked bearing will last as long as a modern design cartridge/hub bearing type. As we all know, that is not "permanent.

As such, they unfortunately tend not to last as long as the original design and are therefore a fairly temporary repair as a result. That "temporary" could be another 100K miles, but may also be less.