i am planning to replace the rear end in my 87 2:73 open to a 3:73 i found a rebuilt complete rear axle assembly that i was going to put in ,i have done alot of different things on vehicles but one of them isnt changing a whole rear can any one tell me or point me in the right direction on as to the exact process of what to unbolt and what not to and any difficultys i might run into.

 

it's pretty simple, jack the car up and take a look. one thing you'd want to watch out for is not to put your jack stands on the rear

 

do yo think that this change is a good upgrade over the crappy 2"73 opens?

 

yeah i think it would, but it really depends alot of what you want to do with it

 

a little better acceleration on the street,i just ordered a edelbrock intake and holley carb 550 that should help out as well

 

Do you mean the rear axle housing?

This unibody isnt built very strong, even when I put
the jack stands under the rail it bends the rail a bit.
I had to use some plywood between the rail and stand
to spread the load..

 

yeah it wouldn't be a smart move to put your jack stands on the rear axle housing then start unbolting it. better move would be on the SFCs or what little uni body you can find.

 

I put jackstands right behind where the rear lower control arms bolt to the chassis. Then put the floorjack under the diff and lift it back up to load the suspension. Remove the driveshaft and torque arm. Unbolt the shocks and undo the swaybar endlinks. Disconnect the brake lines (stop the leak) and then loosen the rear lower control arms to chassis bolts but dont take it out (the order there dosnt really matter). Once all that is done use the floorjack to lower the rearend slowly. Having the control arms still attached will prevent it from falling to one side. Once the rearend is closer to the ground, pull the lower control arm bolts disconnecting the assembly (rearend w/ lower control arms attached) and back it out (still on the floorjack). Install is reverse. Remember to torque everything with the suspension loaded.

 

I know this is off the main topic of this thread
but since I just put in a used rear I thought maybe
someone with experience could help guide me with
a problem I have.

I just changed out my rear and took it for a test drive
I went from 2.73 open to 3.42 open.

Anyway the rear was making a bad sound and I stopped
right away, then I jacked up the rear and put it in drive.
The left wheel which was turning had a really bad wobble.

I have new axle bearings already so I tried to get
the tool to take it off and put the new ones. I went
to pep boys to see if they could rent me a tool but
they didnt have it..
I did a search here and someone said they did it with a pipe
but I tried that and it didnt work just popped out some
of the needle bearings.
My question is anyone know exactly what size puller I need
to get the rear bearings off ?

 

Dave , Your killing me with all your posts. Why not stay with one post since its all about the same thing? There rear seems to not be the problem, why beat a dead horse?..Look into other areas and stop wasting your time . How many times are you going to post that your "new" used rear makes the same trouble for you, a wobble? Stop taking them apart and trying to put them back together with out the proper tools to check tolerances/ clearances and backlash. This is your big bag of ****, so I would appreciate if you told the whole truth and nothing but the truth to our fellow TGO members so they can properly form an opinion. I know you never mentioned any names but I feel its important to get the whole story out there. If your going to put up a post, make it real and let the folks know how you like to take things apart and put them back together without any formal training.

 

Your right I dont any have formal training.
Matter of fact this is my first rear wheel drive car.

If I did I would have known what to look
for in used rear.
I understand there is no reason for you to feel
obligated to me.

take care
Dave