SF axle rebuild (1 Viewer)

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g-man

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At 316k miles my rear axle seal is leaking gear oil on brake shoes. Since having to pull the axle to replace the seal thought I may as well go all the way and replace the bearings too. For removing the bearings I've bought a 5lb slide hammer with 5/8"x18 pitch threads and a Shankly rear axle bearing service set. (I'll post links to Amazon) The amazon link has a good video of how the adapter slides into the bearing and tightens down on it. I've also ordered and orion (OMT) bearing race seal driver set (metric). Cruiser outfitters is sending the axle rebuild kit and brake shoes and hardware.

What size is the outer axle seal in MM?

The FSM says the pinion gear and thrust washer come out when you pull the pinion shaft and spacer.
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Can someone elaborate on this. Will the gear just fall out? Does it have to come out? Does it have to go back in a specific way? I mean obviously the gears have to mesh up but other than that? If I don't remove it I assume once the axle slides in it will drop out.

Amazon.com: Shankly Rear Axle Bearing Puller, Axle Bearing Puller: Automotive

Amazon.com: Orion Motor Tech 10pcs Bearing Race and Seal Bushing Driver Install Set 9 Discs Collar Axle Housing with Carrying Case Master/Universal Aluminum Bush Drive Seal Kit for Automotive Wheel Bearings: Automotive

Amazon.com: ABN Slide Hammer Puller Set - 5 lb Slide Hammer Axle and Hub Puller and Dent Remover Unit Auto Body Hammer Tool: Automotive

Also on my list is: brake cleaner, gear oil, gloves, anti seize for the brake adjuster threads, maybe a brake tool.

I did see this video in the "how to video thread" :

 
The FSM says the pinion gear and thrust washer come out when you pull the pinion shaft and spacer.

The little gears on each end of the pinion shaft come out. Pay attention how they come out, maybe take a pic to two. It's not terribly difficult.

If your puller won't pop out the axel bearings, you can pry out the bearings and cage and run a weld along the outer race to shrink it. Installing new ones is usually not a problem.
 
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You can pull the center pin and spacer out without removing the gears . That’ll give you room to push the axels in and remove the c clips. No need to remove spider gears. They can be kinda a pain in the ass to put back in.
 
Also you can pop the bearings out with a long pipe or dowell from the other side. Ive heard they’re tough to get out with a puller
 
Easiest way I've found is to pull out the 3rd member and use a long pipe through the axle housing to tap out the bearings.

Plus your differential is likely worn out anyway and at a minimum, you can tighten the carrier pre-load to get a few more miles, or better yet, have it fully rebuilt.


If you're really cheap like me, you can swap the front differential to the back. The fronts often have minimal wear, and since they are infrequently used, it's no big deal to have the used rear one there.

But 300k miles is a lot for a differential. It may still work, but it's likely the pre-load in all the bearings is gone. To get the differential strength back, it will need a rebuild.
 
Exactly what I did. Swap the front diff to the rear. Not too hard except for getting the old paper gasket material off was a ROYAL PITA
 
Diff build
Also you can pop the bearings out with a long pipe or dowell from the other side. Ive heard they’re tough to get out with a puller
Doesn't this require pulling the diff?
 
The FSM says the pinion gear and thrust washer come out when you pull the pinion shaft and spacer.

The little gears on each end of the pinion shaft come out. Pay attention how they come out, maybe take a pic to two. It's not terribly difficult.

If your puller won't pop out the axel bearings, you can pry out the bearings and cage and run a weld along the outer race to shrink it. Installing new ones is usually not a problem.
The gears on the end? not the small ones on the side of the spacer?
 
If you're really cheap like me, you can swap the front differential to the back. The fronts often have minimal wear, and since they are infrequently used, it's no big deal to have the used rear one there.

Interesting! But maybe a job for another day. I'm prepping for an upcoming state inspection.
 
you can pry out the bearings and cage and run a weld along the outer race to shrink it

this sounds like a can of worms. Hopefully everything slides out together.
 
Diff build

Doesn't this require pulling the diff?

Probably.. but a dowell same diameter as the shafts should go all the way through and maybe get enough of an angle to grab the bearing and pop it out
 
With the diff cover off and the gears (spider and side gears) out you can run a long pipe through and knock out bearings.

Before installing the new bearings and axle seals place them in the freezer overnight. They'll contract just enough to make installation easier.
 
I have to admit this was uncharted territory to me. Never been into the rear axle or any for that matter. There is one thing the FSM does not mention that I figured out. After removing the rear diff the carrier i think it's called was not in the position shown in the FSM, I needed to put the trans in neutral and turn one of the rear wheels to get it to come around where I could get a look and hand into the large hole to get the spider gears and thrust washers out.

The slide hammer and Shankly rear axle bearing pullers worked well. The seal driver kit I bought did not have a driver that would slide into the bearing nor the seal. If someone knows of one that works well that would be nice info to post up.

Ended up having to replace both wheel cylinders as well.
 

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