?'s on removing front diff

[oilcan]

Ordered up the 4.88's today, and the rear axle doesn't bother me, been into it several times now. The front axle, however, befuddles me. I was looking thru the tech articles and went thru the birfield removal writeup--is that what needs to be done to pull the third member?

I am assuming I can pull both of the thirds and take them to my buddies shop to do all the work, or am I wrong? Just trying to make sure that I have all my ducks in a row for this, as the last time I did a gear swar (on a jeep cherokar ) it was a two weekend nightmare. Hoping to avoid a sequel to that...

I am sure that this has been covered somewhere, just point me in the right direction guys

 

[2mbb]

Look at the current threads on knuckle rebuilds. Yes, you have to remove the birfields and inner axles before you can remove the front third member, although you don't have to remove the knuckle or knuckle bearings. If you don't have the Body and Chasis manual, download one from Birfield.com. It's all in there.

 

[nuclearlemon]

man handle everything and pull the steering arms, caps and rear felt retainers, then remove all the outers as an assembly, slide shafts out, from there you can unbolt diffs and remove

or, remove hub dial, c clip on outer end of birf, hub housing, pull spindle nuts/washers, slide hub body/rotor off, unbolt spindle and remove it and backing plate, rotate birf until flat spots face top and bottom and slide part way out. then unbolt diff.