The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop How hard is to change pinion bearing?

The rear-end in my '63 1/2ton makes a God-awful noise when I back off the gas and it's been leaking fluid so it sounds like it's time for a new seal and bearings.
How hard is it to change those out?
and.. What rear-end do I have?
I'll count the bolts on the back cover tomorrow. I think it's GM12T, but my parts shop has 6 different rear-ends listed for that year.
Thanks in advance.

Hy Freedo, if you have an integral rear axle, then the job can be a little trickier, all the setup must be done in the housing. Changing the pinion bearings involves the use of a press, if you've never done this before, I would get a shop manual for your truck, read through the rear end overhaul procedure and see if you think you can handle it, hope that helps.

Thanks.. I'll be talking to my friendly trany shop.

I think you would be best off getting a used rear end. If you go & put brgs. in the one you have it's still going to sing unless you replace the ring gear & pinion. If it's the dropout center section type it is easy to change. If you have the intregal type like 3B discribed it would be more work but still worth it as it is harder to o=haul.

Never liked this job much, because it can evolve into taking the assy. apart a few times to change shims to get the proper backlash and tooth contact pattern right.
And while you can get the backlash right, if the tooth contact is wrong, pull it down do it again.
Shops that do this a bunch usually have that $$$ guage tool that predetermines the setup so they only have to do this once.

That sound you hear when you back off could be improper tooth contact, assuming you don't have it on the power side. But then the bearings can play into also.
For me,it was how much time and effort I wanted to put into it or how much I was willing to spend so I didn't have to go thru the hassel.
Dan