I'm going to be swapping out the gears soon, which means I'll have to take the rear end apart. How do I go about removing the axle shafts?

 

Remove brake drums. There are 4 bolts holding the retainer plate to the axle housing. After removing those, pull the axles out. Be careful, the entire brake assembly will be loose, including the backing plate. You don't want to kink your brake hard line.

If you have difficulty removing them, as I did, place one of the drums on backwards and secure it with a couple of lug nuts. Then you have a much bigger handle to pull/beat on.

HTH!

 

Curious...are you doing the gears yourself, or are you farming it out? Or are you just swapping in a whole built carrier? Setting up a gear set is not something you should attempt without the proper tools and someone experiencedlooking over your shoulder. It's not incredibly difficult once you know what you're doing, but it's VERY easy to mess up if you don't.

 

Someone on the forum had recommend a how to dvd on the subject. I was going to get that and see how its done. If its too complicated, I'll take take the new gears and the carrier to my local mechanic and have him put it together.

 

As I said, not incredibly complicated, butit has to be exact.You need a dial gauge, a spanner wrench, and a dial type inch-lb torque wrench,as well as the know-how to get the pinion depth and gear lash correct. This involves tightening everything down and reading the mesh pattern on some gear paint.

Having done it before in my drivetrains class at the local JC, I wouldn't have wanted to try it for the first time without someone there to look over my shoulder.

 

Thanks for the info- I'll probably bring it to my mechanic seeing that I just got my a$$ kicked by one of my axles. I got the first one out no problem. I've been fighting with the second for about 2 hours- and as I just mentioned, I'm losing. Any suggestions on how to get it out?

 

If you have a slide hammer, really need to pull it straight, not hooked on one side, usually works. I've had mine kicked too!

 

I had to use a sledge hammer on one side of mine. I put the drum on backwards with 3 lug nuts and started beating away. Took about 10 minutes to get it out. If you have that kind of problem, you should get new bearings and seals.

BTW, I got the backwards drum idea from someone on the forum. Thanks to whoever it was!

 

Take it to someone who knows what they are doing before it ends up turning into a big disaster!!Or at least find a friend or someone to help you that knows how its done.Trust me I totally screwed one up once and it turned into a nightmare!! Good Luck!![sm=signs003.gif]

 

You should definitely replace the bearings and seals while you've got the axles out. There's no reason not to fork the extra $50 or so. You'll need to take the axles into a shop to get the bearings pressed though.