Kay I have an odd noise coming from he rear of the truck. Initially thought it was a spring squeaking, but after jumping on the bumper and flexing the springs no noise. I only notice the noise at low speed during stopping and starting. I took off the wheel and drum and I can move the hub in and out about a 1/4 inch...does this seem like the symptom of a a bad bearing?

if so what do I need to fix it? from browsing some threads I see I need to open the diff, take out a bolt which allows a pin to come out, then push axle inward, remove C-Clip..pull out shaft,...hope spider stays put...then I pull bearing out? I'm assuming the bearing would come out the end of the axle which the hub mates to.

What do I need to get the bearing out? I have a 3 jaw puller that I can borrow from work...would this do the job?

basically I think i need the following, if im missing anything please let me know:
-new bearings x2 (may as well do both sides)
-new axle seals?
-diff gasket
-Diff oil
do the bearings come pre-greased? if not what type do I pack them with?
sorry for the long post, My forte is body work and I don't want to get over my head and have the truck in pieces for ever lol.

 

That is basically the gist of it. You will want to have a slide hammer handy to pull the bearing out of the diff. Also, closely inspect your axle shafts. If there is signs of wear from the lip seal, get the problem solver bearing/seal assemblies. They will move the lip seal sealing surface to fresh shaft.

 

Picked up the parts today. Apparently the axle seals are different depending on weather the vehicle was made in Canada or the states, got a set of each type to cover my *** lol. The bearings don't seem to be pre-greased....what type of grease would I use for this? I have tons of this stuff at work, would it do the job? Shell Alvania EP-2
http://www.epc.shell.com/Docs/GPCDOC...80883_1688.pdf

--->EDIT
after looking at the spec sheet a little bit dosn't seem like a good choice, operating range only goes down to -20 Celsius...get's colder than that most of winter here....hmmm if I went to the parts store and asked for bearing grease would they have a clue what I meant?

 

I wouldn't put anything on them. Dip them in 80w90 gear oil (or 75w90 synthetic) before you install them and coat the axle with some gear lube as you slide it in and you should be good.

 

Alright, got it done over the weekend, wasn't as hard as I was thinking it would be. The axle shaft which had the bad bearing was pretty beat up in the bearing area. The squeaking noise is still present so I'm assuming I now need a new shaft. If I go get parts from a junk yard do I need to get both shafts, or can I replace just one side? is there a difference between years....Im pretty sure its a GU6...would the spline count change with model years?

 

is there a tech article on rear axle shaft replacement? I'm changing my axle shfts soon too?
if so could you post it in a message to me? thanks

 

not sure, thought I found something on this site though. Its pretty easy. First take your diff cover off. Then remove the small bolt which holds the pin in the rear end in place. To get at this you may have to put the truck in neutral and rotate the drive shaft by hand to get the rear end turned and expose the bolt. Slide pin out and slowly push the axle to be removed in towards the center of the vehicle. This will expose the C clip, or most likley the C clip will fall right out. once the C clip is out the axle shaft will slide right out. I found its much easier to do with 2 people, one to push on the axle and pull it out while the other holds the spider gears in place. If the spiders fall out its a pain in the *** to get them back in. I had to do this twice as my original axle was badly scored from a bad bearing, the second time it took me literally 15 minutes to have it all changed out and the cover going back on.

 

WOW Great information! Thanks as I was working on an axle in a friends vehicle!

 

I always put regular bearing grease in/on the bearings before installing them. The oil will eventually dissolve and wash the grease off the bearings but I want to make sure the bearings aren't damaged before the lube gets out to the outboard bearings and distributed through the race and bearings.

No issues so far on one K5 rear and two Camaro rear ends.