With all the parts on hand, this evening was the start of the whole process. Prior to today all I have done is gather all the parts, (gears, bearings) and loosened all the nuts and bolts the held the differential cover and the third member to the rear axle housing. In addition, from the u-joint saga, I have left the u-joint disconnected and the floor panel is removed from the cab exposing the transmission below.
Here is a link to the section on my webshots page for this thread:
http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/554887855oSaqDX First I set the truck so that it does not take a whole lot of garage space but I can remove the axles from the housing.
Next I raised the rearend and secured with jackstands. I remove the tires and drums and placed in the back of the truck.
I removed the differential cover and removed the 1/2" nut that holds the pin in the carrier. I removed the spacer, and then the c-clips holding the axles in place. I slid the axles out about 6 inches so that they are clear of the carrier bearings.
I removed all 4 spider gears using the process shown in the pictures. Simply turn the carrier without the pin in place and the smaller gears will come right out. Then the larger gears that have splines on them slide out as well.
As each part is removed, it is placed into zip-lock bags and labeled to make the installation process easier.
Now all I need is another set of hands to help get the third member out without hurting it or myself.....
