How difficult is dropping a rear axle?
 

Im on a limited budget for winter projects, so Im going for the cheap stuff. My 10 bolt is quite rusty, and being the perfectionist I am, it cant stay that way. :demon: I figure I could do a better and more detailed job painting it if I dropped the entire thing, so I could work on it in a more conveinient location. so who's done it, and how long did it take you? did you have to disconnect/bleed any brake lines?

wow its easy.

if youre doing it on the ground...youre gonna have to jack the car up high. unbolt u-joint and push driveshaft forward into trans, unbolt shocks, unbolt control arms, unbolt sway bar ends, unbolt torque arm, unbolt panhard rod and panhard brace, unscrew hard brake lines (from the chassis is easier), then disconnect ebrake lines (from brakes is easier), then disconnect abs sensor (on top of dif).

i'd simply leave tires on, then raise car higher and higher once its all unbolted. the springs just fall out when its high enough. thats about it...

cool thanks, do you need to do anything special when disconnecting the brake lines, or when reconnecting them? (bleeding, etc.) im definitely gonna give it a shot.

keep the ends of the lines as high as possible to keep from losing all the fluid, and bleed when back together

will do, thanks

Yeah don't worry about it, I did the same thing on my '94. I hated the rust so I pulled it out, sanded it down and painted the entire thing black.

and these seals like to leak a lot. i dont know if its the pinion seal or the axle seals in the dif...but they leak.

I noticed that, they seem to wear fast too, I got 5 calls today for 4th gen f body rear ends, and all the ones I had said needs seals

hmm, hopefully i dont have that problem. If i do though, a pinion seal isnt a big deal is it? $3 part at the auto parts store maybe?

its a big deal. well not if you have an air compressor, a big impact and a big socket to take that big nut off.

ic.

yea im not investing that much into this pos 10 bolt. I already think my posi is starting to fail, and if it is, im not fixing it... im just going straight to the twelve bolt which i wont be able to afford for years.