im pretty sure the rear bearings are going on my car...there is a loud grating sound that changes based on how fast the car is going and on how much torque is hitting the wheels...so my question is, how hard are they to replace and what is involved in it?

 

Its not hard, I just replaced mine! Jack up the rear, take off your rearend cover (have a pan under it and avoid my mistake! ). Remove a little pinion shaft screw so you can slide the pinion shaft out. push in on the axle shaft a bit so you can slide the C lock thing off. once off, slide the axle shaft out. now you've got your seal and bearing, just take a crow bar (or the axle shaft ) and pry the seals out. The bearings are pressed in so if you dont have a slide hammer, rent one! ok, then just take your new bearings (lube em w/ rearend oil) tap em in w/ the old bearing. pack the new seals w/ grease and put it all back together (Your differential pinion gears may have fallen out, but lining em back up is no biggy.. Have Fun!

 

thanks man...im gonna have to attempt this tomorrow...ive seen it done once before in my autos class, but i dont remember much of that...so wish me luck

 

When you go to put the shaft back in,try not to drag the splines across the seal or it could pop the spring out.

 

BIG problem here...that pinion shaft bolt...the head is stripped (my own dumb fault). so 3 things...is there any way to get to that c clip without taking out the pinion shaft, or is there another way to take out the pinion shaft, or could i get some tips and tricks to getting a bolt with a stripped head out.

 

Oh man, my fault... I forgot to tell you that its a metric bolt sorry... some vise grips should take care of it.

 

i kinda figured its metric...after nothing could grip it.
its sokay man i dont blame you my dumb self should have seen what it was.
i tried vise grips...they didnt work...tried some small channel locks...they didnt work...tried many different sizes of wrenches (all standard though) they didnt work. so now its all bolted up and filled with fluid again...so i can either drive it to the shop or attempt it again this sometime this week (i got daddy's car while hes out of town).
thanks for all the help guys...just one more question...
how tight is that bolt supposed to be...not even my vise grips could get it off. and whats the best way to keep the diff from turning when youre trying to get the bolt off? i just used a long wrench extension and jammed it between the case and one of the holes in the carrier, but it kept falling into the pan of oil. any easier ways to do this?
and as a last resort...could i use an easy out on this?

 

I dunno... the bolts not that tight, mabye like 15 or 20 ft lbs. As for the dif. turning, I just put it in gear.