I have gear oil leaking down the inside of my right tire onto the garage floor.
Its a 12 bolt rear end that I think is out of a truck but was narrowed to fit in this 67 Camaro.
It has drum brakes.

So if I want to change this out or repair the leak, should I be looking at the axle seal?
I've never changed one out.

What is involved with this?
Is this a huge job that is going to require pulling the axle out of the housing?
Is there any tools I need that are for things like bearings or something?

Not a huge job but you do need to have car body jacked up and let diff hang some, maybe even support housing with another set of jack stands. Once thats done, pop off rear cover and let drain, Remove carrier bolts (4) and caps and shims (might not hurt to take a punch and mark right and left in relationship to housing, a dimple will do, just to distinguish which one went where. Either before you take caps off or after, Locate the case locking pin , remove small bolt that has a pin on it , it holds the spider gears in place. Some concave washers may slide out so pay attention. Once pin is out , you push in both axles and C clips will fall out , allowing both axles to be removed ( might as well replace both seals for safety. Once axles are out , seals are staring at you, you can pry them out with a long pry bar, Don't hang on the bearing cage. Wash off with a can or two of BrakeKleen spary, Shoes too if necessary, Reassemble in reverse order. Be sure to tighten those 4 housing cap bolts, Put side shims back the way they cam out.
Autozone will loan you tools for free if you need some. Buy your parts there too. You could also spend a few bucks for a repair manual that displays a pickup rear end. Same job as long as you don't look up a 1 ton rear end. Ask more questions here if needed, got lots of help.

Isn't it possible to remove the axle shafts without disassembling the carrier? I though you could just remove the pin, c-clips and then the axles slide out?

alan

From memory yes thats All I did to drop the C clips

No you dont need to remove the carrier.Only the cross pin bolt and pin push the axles in and remove the C clips.

That's right, only need to remove the bolt and pin, then push the axles in and remove the C clips. The axles will pull right out. I would do one axle at a time and don't move the differential while you have them out. You should probably replace the bearings while you have them apart.

I have never removed a carrier to replace axle seals and i think I did them all with one set of stands under the axle housing. It might be easier to let the rear end hang down if you have a traverse muffler. I pull the bolt that hold the cross shaft then pull the cross shaft. push the axle in and drop the c-clip off then pull the axle out. Reinstall the cross shaft and the bolt hand tight so if you spin the diff you don't lose all the parts in the center. I also use the end of the axle to pry out the seals.

Jeff

i think I did them all with one set of stands under the axle housing.
So did It
And yes spin up the rear wheels and check for any rumble in the bearings

Isn't it possible to remove the axle shafts without disassembling the carrier? I though you could just remove the pin, c-clips and then the axles slide out?

alan


Yes, sorry, my head was not screwed on right , Steptoe and others is correct, I was thinking of taking all apart to inspect side carrier bearing too. Actually once pin is out and C clips are out, you can put pin back in to keep spiders in place while you are doing all the other. I slept on this one last night.

Putting the pin back in to keep the spiders in place. I will make sure to do that. I have no experience with rear ends so I am nervous about this. I've heard that if you move anything while its apart that you're screwed. I heard that when I needed to replace my pinion yoke.

Been raining here a lot so not driving at all anyway, so I will treat this like a delicate surgery because I'm not the most mechanical guy in the world.

Thanks for all the advice, I will attempt the surgery on the patient this weekend or next if my cousin who is more experienced can help me on this.
Any specific brand name on parts I should look for? As long as the baby is apart, I want to put in the best. I do drag race this car once in awhile so I want heavy duty long lasting sort of parts. I'm willing to pay the price for quality parts.

I used Timken bearings and seals. Nice product. Much better than the original bearings that were in there.