diluded000 Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 I'm going down to my local u-pull to get an LSD and need a little prep advice. This is my first experience at me-pull, so a little support would be helpful. Having read that swapping diffs is a quick job, I still am not quite sure where to pull what loose. How and where do I get the driveshaft off, how and where do I get the axle shafts off; is it like the front CVs where I knock out a pin and yank it loose, or does something else have to happen? I am also a pretty clean sort of fella. Is 20 year old (hopefully more well maintained than that) gear oil going to come gushing out somewhere when I take something other than the drain plugs off? The plan is to use the fine USMB write-up on doing the gear swap to get this to 3.9:1 after I get it home. I may try to take pictures to go with the write-up when I do this. Also got my high dollar stainless brake hoses all ready for the disk brake retrofit on the back, so I might snap a few of that process as well. Need to get the pictures of my home fabricated lift posted before I do any of that though. Wish me luck. Any advice on the whole u-pull thing would be helpful. - James B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 The driveshaft unbolts from the diff. The axles are removed via driving the roll pins out just like the front. You might want a prybar to get the axles off of the stubs, or wait until the diff drops. There are 4 bolts that hold the diff to a bracket, and two more that hold it to the diff hanger bracket. It woighs about 60 lbs, so you might want a portable jack to hold it up while you take bolts out. You shouldn't have oil problems if you leave the driveshaft in the front yoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 Axles are held to rear diff stub axles by roll-pins just like the front. Bring something like a crow bar to break the joint cup loose from the axle stub... sometimes they stick due to rust, gunk, etc. You may need to drop the diff down before removing joint cup from axle stub. No oil should come out unless you turn it upside down and then the vent will leak some. Driveshaft has a bolted flange at the diff end. Bring a PAIR of wrenches (12mm IIRC), preferably combos as the nut will prob require a boxend (6-point box best). Unbolting the diff should be pretty straightforward, except that it is probably easier to remove the 2 large nuts on the ends of the moustache bar and taking the bar out with the diff. Once removed and cleaned up, carefully box it up and ship it to zip 98312 LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singletrack Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 TAKE A PROPANE TORCH. If the axles are siezed you can beat on them all day and they won't come loose. Add some heat and they'll come right off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qman Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 17mm nuts hold it to the diff(mustache) bar. Roll pins for the axles. Pry bar or heat may be neccessary to remove them. DO NOT remove the four nuts on the underside of the diff near the front. Instead, remove the nut and bolt from the top. Tools needed, 12mm wrench(driveline bolts) 17mm socket-1/2 drive 1/2 drive rachet 3/16 or equivalent punch hammer Large flat screw driver or small heel bar(to assist with holding the driveline still) 19mm or 21mm wrench(bring both, can't remember which for the upper bolt) 17mm wrench(upper nut) If all else fails on the rear axles and they do not come off. You can remove the boot clamp and pull back the boot. With a small flat tip screw driver you can remove the circlip the keeps the joint together and leave the cup on the diff. It is sometimes easier to deal with these at home. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diluded000 Posted April 8, 2005 Author Share Posted April 8, 2005 Dang, y'all are fast. So when you say don't remove the 4 bolts, I should be taking off the bolt thru the bushing in callout number 13 below? And thanks for the tips on the axle cups getting stuck. If it is hard to break those cups loose I have a new (to me) Victor OA welding setup in the garage at home. Making the whole thing glow a pretty red would be fun. Appreciate the tip about bringing something to stake the driveline as well, I would have forgot about that. - James B (picture from the AutoZone free repair info website) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 So when you say don't remove the 4 bolts, I should be taking off the bolt thru the bushing in callout number 13 below? YES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jibs Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 You shouldn't have any problems unless the axles are rusted on there. Just get under the car and have a look around, you'll figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diluded000 Posted April 10, 2005 Author Share Posted April 10, 2005 Well I'm the proud new owner of an LSD. But the axles are still attached. Everything unbolted pretty easily, I just had problems getting the axles out of the cup. When you guys talk about this circlip, is that the strap that holds the rubber boot on, or is there something under the boot that has to come loose to get the axle out of the bearing cup. The only way I could get the thing apart was to completely take a hub off of the shock and suspension, then bang the cup loose on the end closest to the tires, then bang the diff to get the other end loose. If this is normal I will do it again when I pull the open diff from my car tomorrow, but it seems like I missed something. Anyway, thanks for all the advice. It made this go pretty well. - James B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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