Axle Shaft & Bearing: Removal
- Raise vehicle and support. Remove rear wheels and brake drums. Place drain pan below differential cover. Loosen but do not remove differential cover bolts. Break cover loose and catch lubricant in drain pan. Remove differential cover bolts and remove cover. Remove differential pinion shaft lock bolt.
- On non-locking differential drive axle assemblies (without thrust block and clutch packs), remove differential pinion shaft. Push outer flanged end of axle shaft toward center of vehicle. Remove "C" lock from axle shaft groove and from counterbore recess in side gear. Remove axle shaft from axle housing.
- On locking differential drive axle assemblies (with thrust block and clutch packs), partially remove pinion shaft from differential case. Rotate differential case until pinion shaft touches edge of carrier housing. See Fig 1.
- Reach into case using screwdriver and rotate "C" lock until its open end points directly inward toward thrust block and "C" lock is aligned with thrust block sides. See Fig 2. When "C" lock is correctly positioned, push outer flanged end of axle shaft toward center of vehicle. This will move "C" lock out of counterbore recess in side gear and allow it to be removed from thrust block and from axle shaft groove. Remove axle shaft from axle housing. See Fig 2.CAUTION: DO NOT hammer on axle shaft flange. Axle shaft should slide inward easily when "C" lock is correctly aligned with thrust block. When removing pinion shaft from differential case on 9 1/2" ring gear axle, be sure pinion gear thrust washer does not slip out.
- On all assemblies, with axle shaft removed, insert Axle Bearing & Seal Remover (J-22813-01
) for 7 1/2" and 7 5/8", (J-23689
) for 8 1/2" or (J-29712
) for 9 1/2" ring gears into axle housing behind bearing. Attach Slide Hammer (J-2619
) and Adapter (J-2619-4
) for 7 1/2" and 7 5/8" or (J-2619-01
) for 8 1/2" and 9 1/2" ring gears to bearing remover. Remove axle bearing and axle seal. See Fig 3.
CAUTION: On "S" Series with 7.5" ring gear, 2 different replacement seal/bearing assemblies are available. These assemblies are not interchangeable.