I posted last friday about my rear axle noise problems. I'm in DC now and i've pulled the axle out and looked at the bearings. I see what the problem is now, but i don't know what to call the parts. On the outside edge of the bearning there is a ring with a ridge on it that fits between the bearing and the outer metal seal. The ridge looks like its been striped and now the bearings don't roll correctly on the ring, i guess they have to "jump" somehow to get over the striped area. there were also a few metal shards stuck on the outer race side of the bearning, i'm guessing they are off of that striped ring. so i just globbed a whole bunch of bearing grease on everything and put it all back together. drove it around a bit, and its just as bad as it was, of course.

so i'd like to know if anyone has driven around on bad bearings for a while before? aside from the loud noise, is there anything bad that's likely to happen? the bearnings weren't dry, so i'm not too worried about them melting or anything. can i get the car the 275 miles back home to pittsburgh? is there any driving behavior i should avoid? how fast can i drive it?

thanks so much for all your help,

colbi