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in the effort to identify and eliminate a bloody sqeak that my car has developed, i decided to remove and service/repack the rear bearings.
undid studs and after much swearing and tapping with a hammer, axles refused to come out. finally conceded defeat and checked service manual, to find out i have to take apart the diff and take off the snap ring
once i get the retaining ring off and the studs, should the axle just come out fairly easily? i can't see any other steps in the manual. any tips for this job?
also the manual indicates that i have to undo a lock nut to get the hub off, it doesn't say what size, any idea what size it is? if it's the same for the front i already may have the socket somewhere.
this should be a full floating diff if its a 91, so you shouldnt need to remove a snap ring. YOu only need to remove the snap ring on semi floaters.
There are cone washers underneath the nuts that you have removed retaining the axle. The cone washers are as the name suggest cone shapped and sit into the axle end plate. These are angled and thus when they have been on for a while they can be a pain to remove.
Without removing the cone washers the axle isnt going to budge a mm.
The cone washers can be removed by hitting the end of the stud with a hammer gently, or even better with a drift and hammer (brass bar over stud, hit brass with hammer).
You can also try using a pin punch and hitting the cone washer itself, but try not to damage the cone washers.
5-56 or wd40 will help alot. hit them with wd40 and let it soak for at least an hour then have another go.
Hit the axle HARD on the side of the cone washers, its wil slightly deform tghe axel and pop the cone washer out. Dont worry the deformation is very small and returns tio normal instantly.
Once you get the cone washers out as above (which will be the hardest step) insert two M8 hardened bolts into the threaded holes on the axle flange and turn to separate the axle from the hub. You can attach these bolts to a slide hammer and separate the axle from the hub a little more easily.
To get the hub off the diff housing, I use special service tool like this:
the job has been done now and am feeling very chuffed considering my lack of training.
how do you know if you have done the locknut up too tight/tight enough without getting out a torque wrench as per book. I did it up till it was fairly tight, and no play in the hub in any direction then backed it off a bit and put in the retaining screws. The hub still spun easily but only when applying force (i.e. not continuing to spin when you take your hand away.)
rockcrawler31 wrote:thanks to everybody who responded.
the job has been done now and am feeling very chuffed considering my lack of training.
how do you know if you have done the locknut up too tight/tight enough without getting out a torque wrench as per book. I did it up till it was fairly tight, and no play in the hub in any direction then backed it off a bit and put in the retaining screws. The hub still spun easily but only when applying force (i.e. not continuing to spin when you take your hand away.)
sounds about right
i did mine with a torque wrench, but you only use the torque wrench to preload the bearing, you then back it off and use your feel to make sure its right (no play but not too tight).
check to see your hubs dont get too hot after a long cruise. By hot i mean if you can keep your hand on it its probably fine. Takes a bit of temp to melt grease, but when it does your bearings will suffer.
also good to make sure both your hubs run at about same temp, otherwise it might be worth figuring out which one is too loose or which one is too tight
