Remove rear-end?

[GerhardUngerer]

I am still fighting rust on my FJ80. The whole rear end (and above it) needs work. Instead of trying to do all that on my back, I wondered if it would not be quicker and easier to remove the rear end and doing the work off-vehicle.

I saw @lp2k removed the front axle housing on this thread. I have not seen any posts on advice to do this for the rear. The Repair Manual doesn't show this either.

It doesn't look too difficult, but wondered if anyone has some advice? Video? Link?

 

[lp2k]

Lol yea so the rear is straight forward - if you you can PM me your number and I can walk you through it either by text or face time, I did it all alone on my effed up driveway.

I’ll say it again- like 90% of this board are hardcore wrenchers. Not me , had to learn by trial n error

 

[lp2k]

so your going to want to make sure your on level ground. Invest in quality penetration oil. Get blocks of wood also.
you will need 2 sets of jacks, I’m talking quality 6 ton and 3 ton. Safety first mentality. Also plan to bleed the brakes, Ive done this once before but it was pretty easy with the tool from harbor freight. Raise the truck up 22 inches. You need clearance to raise and lower the axle it self and negotiate with the springs.

once you have the truck jacked up support the truck on the 6 ton jacks support the axle on the 3 ton jacks.
remove tires and then soak the upper and lower control arm bolts. Soak the bolt for the lateral control arm.
remove the sway bar first. see my thread it’s the same almost. Soak them too before removing.
Once the sway bar is removed, tackle the drive shaft. See my thread on that. It’s the same.
Break the lock using an impact gun on the lower shock bolt. Use Impact Gun, do not use breaker bar.
remove shock absorber. Look at Timmy the tool man video on youtube on how he removes the shock absorber. The video is on installing a lift kit but it’s same concept. Remove the spare tire so you can get room under there.
Raise and lower the axle to remove the springs. You can use the Bottlejack , pieces of wood and a lift jack to lower the axle and get the springs off.
tackle the upper and lower control arm rear bolts above and under the axle.
raise the axle up with the jack and use impact gun to remove rear lateral control arm bolt on axle

follow the brake lines and use 10mm flare nut wrench and loosen the lines.
disconnect the abs sensors
using some pallets u should put some blocks of wood to catch it
I’ll clean this up but this is the quick n dirty version i can do from memory in bed. Pics will come

 

[Pascoscout]

so your going to want to make sure your on level ground. Invest in quality penetration oil. Get blocks of wood also.
you will need 2 sets of jacks, I’m talking quality 6 ton and 3 ton. Safety first mentality. Also plan to bleed the brakes, Ive done this once before but it was pretty easy with the tool from harbor freight. Raise the truck up 22 inches. You need clearance to raise and lower the axle it self and negotiate with the springs.

once you have the truck jacked up support the truck on the 6 ton jacks support the axle on the 3 ton jacks.
remove tires and then soak the upper and lower control arm bolts. Soak the bolt for the lateral control arm.
remove the sway bar first. see my thread it’s the same almost. Soak them too before removing.
Once the sway bar is removed, tackle the drive shaft. See my thread on that. It’s the same.
Break the lock using an impact gun on the lower shock bolt. Use Impact Gun, do not use breaker bar.
remove shock absorber. Look at Timmy the tool man video on youtube on how he removes the shock absorber. The video is on installing a lift kit but it’s same concept. Remove the spare tire so you can get room under there.
Raise and lower the axle to remove the springs. You can use the Bottlejack , pieces of wood and a lift jack to lower the axle and get the springs off.
tackle the upper and lower control arm rear bolts above and under the axle.
raise the axle up with the jack and use impact gun to remove rear lateral control arm bolt on axle

follow the brake lines and use 10mm flare nut wrench and loosen the lines.
disconnect the abs sensors
using some pallets u should put some blocks of wood to catch it
I’ll clean this up but this is the quick n dirty version i can do from memory in bed. Pics will come

Don't forget to disconnect the emergency brake cable too.

 

[South Texas 97]

I pulled my rear diff /axle a couple of months back. Pretty much as advised above. If your spare tire is under there, remove that first. Think safety first. And block the truck securely. Remove as much as possible with the wheels on the ground. Handbrake cables, brake lines, abs sensors, leveler lever. Driveshaft.
loosen all the heavy nuts while it is on the ground. I built a small pallet with some heavy duty castors under it. It held the axle off the ground and allowed me to roll it out from under the truck pretty easily.
took me about three hours to remove. An hour of that was figuring out how not to drop the truck or the axle on my head.
see my south Texas 97 thread. There are photos here

 

[Rusty Marlin]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, so I will.
Get the front tires off the ground by placing jack stands under the outboard ends of the axle.
If you don't do this, the ass end of the truck can and will pivot around the steering knuckles and easily fall off any bracing placed on the frame rails at the rear if they are not level, like when you jack up one side and then the other for the cribbing.
Been there, done that, cleaned my shorts afterward. School of hard knocks and broken stuff.

 

[Malleus]

@GerhardUngerer: @roadstr6 did this a couple of years ago, to swap his non locked axles for lockers. Of course, he has the ultimate, or near-ultimate, shop to do the work, so that helped, but you might PM him since he's in the general area.

 

[BILT4ME]

SOAK EVERYTHING WITH PB BLASTER FOR A WEEK OR TWO FIRST!

Expect to break a lot of bolts when removing the rear axle. Specifically, the upper shock mount bolts and the sway bar bolts.

Good Luck!

Rust can be dealt with by having patience, a torch, PB Blaster, a hammer, and knowing ahead of time that you're going to break them off. Don't forget the tap and die sets and 6-point sockets and wrenches.

 

[lp2k]

do the 50/50 acetone and tranny fluid (synthetic) that stuffs works miracles. You can see it eat the rust (u will see smoke rise off the rust)