I need to replace them, never done it. Any help would be great. Any one have a write-up?

 

theyre not too tough, heres a writeup on doing the axle seals, the bearings are just one step further http://www.therangerstation.com/tech.../AxleSeal.html. once you know how to pull the axle shafts it's quite easy, and pulling the axle shafts is pretty easy.

 

i will be doing this tmrw evening when i re-gear and install my locker, i will get you some pictures ... if you would like that is ...

-Jared

 

some pix would be great, thanks.

 

here is a pic after you pull the drum and axleshaft, before you pull the axle seal


and here is a pic with the axle seal out of the way, thats the wheel bearing sitting right there.

 

I noticed that you have a 7.5, I have an 8.8, is it going to be the same or close enough?

Thanks for the great pix.

 

same set up ....

 

yea, if you have teh 28-spline 8.8 it even uses the exact same axle shafts, wheel bearings and axle seals as the 7.5. the 31-spline 8.8 has larger shafts bearings and seals though, but it's still the same exact procedure to change the bearings no matter which RBV rear axle you have in there. take the drums off, pull the cover, unbolt the crosspin retainer, slide out the crosspin so you can push in on an axleshaft, pull the c-clip off the end of the shaft, slide the shaft out, pull the seal and bearing, drive in the new bearing and seal, repeat for otherside, slide shafts back in, replace c-clips, slip crosspin back in, rebolt crosspin lock, seal up cover, refill diff, put on drums.

 

thanks, about how long did it take you to do the seals?

 

eh, it was a few hours, but i was also installing a locker in my friends 7.5 at the same time, so i was kinda procrastinating and bouncing back and forth between the two at the same time... lockers are easy too though. once you understand the parts of an axle and how they work inside they're real easy, i was very intimidated at first too when I orinally installed my lock-right, but once I got the concept of how all the parts went together in there it was nothing. one trick for the seals though, the slide hammer had troubles actually grasping onto the seals, so you can use the axle shaft as a lever to pull out hte axle seal with. although if you are doing the bearings as well, just get the slide hammer in behind the bearing and pull both at the same time. make sure you look at the axle shaft real good where it rides on the bearing and make sure it's not worn down or grooved. if its in good condition just slap in teh new bearings and seal, throw a little bit of grease on the new seals before slideing the axle shafts in so you dont tear em up with a dry shaft, and throw it back together. if the axle shafts have deep scouring or grooves in them you may want to look into getting new shafts because even with new bearings there will still be too much play in teh shafts and it will eat up the new bearings. unfortuatly the only downside to the 8.8 and 7.5 axles are they are semi-floating axles and the axle shaft supports the weight of the vehicle and rides directly on the wheel bearing.