Hey guys, I'm in the middle of replacing my fuel pump and you guys know the work involved with that lol. For starters, I noticed that the driver's side axle has almost a 1/4 inch of play, meaning if I grab the drum I can move it in and out of the rear end almost a 1/4 inch, but up and down it feels solid. There is no play at all in the passenger side. Does that mean it's time for new bearings? That play might explain why the car always felt a little squeamish at highway speeds, even with a brand new front end.

I also removed the upper panhard brace and I noticed it was bent, I'm thinking this is for exhaust clearance but I became a little concerned when I noticed a dent in the exhaust pipe in that area. Here's a picture of the brace and tell me what you think of it:



And the e-brake on my car doesn't work. It might engage if I yank it up a few times but even then I believe only one wheel is catching. What should I look for?

Thanks guys!

the rear has c-clips, so play in and out is normal.

the upper panhard brace it a bent, twisted, f-ed up looking piece of steel from the factory, your looks perfectly normal.

what rear brakes do you have? that will tell us what wrong with the parking brake

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you mean you have side play when you push the axle in & out
they usually have the same wear... it would be wise to replace both axle bearings
the upper brace is designed with a radius for exhaust clearance

and check all e brake cables for binding

Yea replacing the fuel pump is the 7th circle of hell. I honestly believe the tank was the first piece on the production line. I have done it 3 times and none of them have been easy. On a side note my exhaust and rear suspension are top notch.

You Panhard brace looks fine. AS long as it fits and the metal is not yeilded it will do its job no matter what it looks like. If you need an excuse for you or your wife to upgrade, that thing is smoked, it will never work again :-)

These rear axles, in my opinion are disposable. If it rolls freely and is not making noise save your cash for a better axle.

I have drum brakes.

Yep there's play when I push it in and out, so it would be wise to replace the bearings considering that one side is tighter than the other?

Yeah i think I might go find a disk rear end since I'm going through all of this work. I'll have to find a decent one for a decent price though!

To bad you are so far away I would let yo have mine minus the brakes they are going on the new 9", but those parts are not to bad to buy. Especially with a free axle.

ls1 style 4th gen disc work very well on a drum axle, very simple mod. almost a bolt in deal if you didnt have to cut the axle flange down a little.

if we are talking about a 10 bolt, the axle bearings dont press onto the axle. There are no bearings holding the axle in and out, they just slid in and are held in with c-clips. the axle bearings, if worn, would produce side to side movement in the axle, and the OP doesnt seem to have that.

again, i will say, this play you feel is normal. But if you have the rear all apart, new bearing wont hurt, but may not be needed

the other side may not be moving do to other reasons. If bearings are to blame for any in and out movement, the bearings in question would be the carrier bearings, and if they were that loose, you probably would have gernaded the rear by now.

Often, if the bearings are bad, you'll have leaking diff fluid on the axle end and on the inside of the rim. Here's a how-to, should that be the case:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...ing-axles.html

JamesC