10-bolt axle removal?? - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

TunedPort 335 · 05-17-2003, 03:08 PM

Hey everyone, me and my father are stumped. We're trying to remove the axles on my car because I need to replace the axle seals and take off the backing plates.

It's a 7.5" 10 bolt with 2.73's.

Anybody know how to do this? Are there special tools needed?

Any and all help is appreciated!

RB83L69 · 05-17-2003, 03:22 PM

It's ridiculously easy. There are 2 "special tools" you'll need is a 6-point 5/16" box-end wrench; not a 12-point, not an open-end, but only a 6-point box-end 5/16" wrench. The other is a 6' piece of ¾" or 1" electrical conduit.

Take the cover off. The fluid will fall out. Rotate the carrier until the 5/16" bolt head comes into view. Using the wrench as described and a hammer, loosen and remove the bolt. The pin that goes through the middle will fall out. Push one axle inward about ¼"; its C-clip will fall out. Slide the axle out. Push the other axle in, its clip will fall out, slide that axle out. Now stick the conduit through the axle tubes, and catch it on the back side of the bearing, and bonk it with the BFH; repeat for the other side.

To put the bearing back in, use a flat punch or a drift. To put the seal in, us a piece of 2x4 about 6" long; set the seal into the bore, lay the wood against it, and give it one huge whack with the BFH. DO NOT try to tap the seal in around the edge with the hammer, you will distort it, and it will leak, guaranteed.

Look closely at the axles. If they show any sign of wear where the bearing rides on them, they are garbage, and should be replaced. If you can feel wear at all it's too much.

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly.

The whole process should take less than half an hour.

JP84Z430HP · 05-17-2003, 03:47 PM

Hmmm...I never thought of using the pipe idea to get the bearings out! We have a 3-finger internal jaw attachment for the slide hammer at work, but it is a PITA! I'm trying the pipe next time!

If the axle is worn down, you can use what they call "Axle Saver" bearings which put the bearing at a different plavce on the axle. They also come with the seal as an integral part of the bearing assembly. I don't know how good these are when you have a decent amount of horsepower, but in a totally stock application they should be just fine, and save a wad of money! I know Carquest carries them, and I'm sure NAPA and the "Other" national chains should also.

TunedPort 335 · 05-17-2003, 05:32 PM

Thanks RB.

We just weren't pulling the pin out all the way. So we took it completely out, I pushed the axle in and like you said...the C clips basically fell out.

Also, I don't see any clutch packs in the rearend. The carrier looks machined...not cast. The kid I bought it from said the rearend was rebuilt, but I'm not sure what he put in it. I'm guessing is a conical type rearend? Instead of the clutch pack style rearend?

RB83L69 · 05-17-2003, 05:55 PM

If you don't see any clutch packs, there aren't any; and it isn't a posi. The "cone" style posi uses brass or bronze cones inside the side gears; they're still clutches of a sort, just not composition ones. If all that's inside the carrier is 4 gears, then you have a one-wheeler.

What gears are in it?

TunedPort 335 · 05-17-2003, 06:51 PM

It's 2.73 and its definitely posi. I've done a few burnouts and donuts before and it catches pretty good. Also if I spin one tire while its up in the air, the other tire spins in the same direction....so that rules out the one-wheeler thing.

Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough, they clutches might be "hidden" behind the carrier. Are the carrier's on stock rearends a casting or are they machined??

RB83L69 · 05-17-2003, 10:05 PM

They're a casting that's been machined.

If you don't see anything inside the carrier besides 4 gears, then it isn't a posi, no matter what your "burnout" and "wheel spin" tests make you think. The things you are saying that make you think it is, don't prove that it is at all. This is why I tell people over and over again to take off their cover and look at their rear end.... all these "tests" and stuff that are supposed to show whether your rear is posi or not, are a bunch of guesswork and a waste of time; reality is what you see when you pop the cover.

Here's what a posi looks like inside. If you didn't see this, it's not a posi.

JP84Z430HP · 05-17-2003, 10:11 PM

Is there any sort of mechanism in there? What RB is showing is true for a stock clutch type posi. There is a possibility that some put a locker in there that doesn't look like that, but you would see something!

As for the cone type, that's a 9-bolt, and you would know it right away when you look for the c-clips. There are none!

BTW....A locker carrier case looks similar, it is a machined casting, and an open rear is not machined other than where the bearings go, and on the insides where the diff gears go.

TunedPort 335 · 05-18-2003, 07:51 AM

Mine is exactly like the one shown in the picture, so its a posi.

Thanks RB