car is a 91 L98 with 3.23's. i am getting a humming noise coming from the rear as i accelerate. today i jacked up the rear end, put the car in drive and listen for any bearing noises. the right side is louder than the left side when i put my ear close to the tire. so i'm pretty sure my bearings on that side are shot. what i'd like to know is...

1. is my rear end a 9 or 10 bolt?? i think it may be 10 but am not sure.

2. do i have to remove the pumpkin cover to remove any clips that may be holding the axles in place?? or do the axles just pry out?

3. i'm guessing the bearings are pressed. are the races in the housing easy to remove? what can i use to remove 'em?

4. are there bearings only on the part of the axle that's close to the wheel, or is there another set close to where the spider gears are?

any help appreciated. will be first time doing this type of job.

TIA

 

I can't say for sure, but more than likely a 10 bolt. (9 bolts aren't as common.) If so, you have to remove the cover. Inside you will have to remove a small bolt in the differential and then the cross shaft between the axles, then the c-clips which actually hold the axles in. You will need a slide hammer to pull the bearing out of the axle tube. This is all provided that it is the outer axle bearing, there are bearings inside, they are under the big caps you will see when you pull of the cover. Now if it is a 9 bolt, I believe thay have bolt in axles with the bearings pressed on. and if it is a limited slip rear, be sure to get some additive when you put it all back together.

 

ok i was hoping to do the job today but for some reason no one seems to have the axle seals. so anyone know where i can get 'em from? part #'s?.

P.S. pep boys sucks

 

1. Yes. You have a 9-bolt or a 10-bolt.

Count the cover bolts to figure out which one you have. This is going to be complicated, so get ready for some heavy math. If there's 9, it's a 9-bolt; if there's 10, I'll let you figure it which one it is.

Most likely it's a 10-bolt, unless it's been changed; the 9-bolt's last year was 89.

2. Yes, you have to remove the cover. Then you need to remove the little screw that holds the pin in; use a 5/16" 6-point box-end wrench and an impact. Then the pin will fall out. When the pin is out, slide the axles in, one at a time; the C-clips will fall out. Once they have fallen out, the axles will fall out.

3. The bearings are pressed into the axle housings. Get a piece of electric conduit a Home Depot or some such, about 3/4" would be good, about 6' long; stick it through the axle tubes, and bonk the bearing out with a BFH from the other side. Screw a slide hammer; that's too much like work. I hate work.

4. There are carrier bearings near the spider gears, but they're probably not bad.


If your axle bearings are bad, your axles are toast too, since the axle rides directly on the rollers. If you can see the place on the axle where the bearings go, that is if it looks different from the rest of the machined part of the axle there, it's garbage. Be prepared to buy either new axles at about $125 each or a whole junk rear, which will have to be from a 90-92 Camaro or Firebird, no other years or kind of car will work; you're not going to find "an axle" out of one at the buzzard, since to take an axle out renders the whole rest of the rear worthless. Or, to look at it a different way, if you turn out to be able to buy "an axle", you will actually pay for a whole rear, and will simply be granted the opportunity to leave the rest of it behind.

The axle seal is the single most common axle seal of all of them. 6510 IIRC is the part number. It's the same axle seal that fits S trucks, and A, B and G body cars, and G vans, and Astro vans. They have them; you just got an idiot at the counter. The bearing part # is R-1653-TAV IIRC.

 

LOL. for once my scientific calculator came in handy.

turns out i have a 10 bolt and i went to a different auto zone today and got bearings and seals for both sides. hopefully i will not need an axle. tomorrow i'll get some posi additive. also got a piece of conduit for free. i too hate work, except on thirdgens.

 

They make a repair bearing that rides on an unworn part of the axle.

 

So I'm guessing the conduit can be used regardless if the diffy is in or not?

And I take it this drives the damn seals out too? I don't have 3/4" conduit.. It's more like 1/2"... Will it still work (before I gouge my axle tubes)

 

i did it with the whole rear end in the car. used 3/4" but i dont see why 1/2" wouldn't work. you might wanna have another person hold the pipe down against the bearing while you bang it from the other side. few hits and it was out. i was doing this by myself and the pipe kept riding over the bearing/seal every time i banged it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! As you know, good help is hard to find. Thanks for the warning about riding over the axle bearing... back out ot the shop