New to this forum, I couldn't find anything on it but I have a couple questions on it.

As I was doing the rear brakes on my 96 Blazer (4x4, 4 door) one drum looked really oily. My initial thoughts were brake line, or wheel cylinder. I looked at each, no problem. As I moved the axle I noticed it had alot of give, more than the other side. There we go: Bearings gone, needs new bearing and seal.

To take the axles off, I have to take the cover off the gears. Is there any special tools, any heads up, or any other things I have to know before I start this job. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

what did you mean by, "As I moved the axle I noticed it had alot of give, more than the other side. There we go: Bearings gone, needs new bearing and seal."? which way did the axle move? in & out is normal (to a certain degree). any radial movement, which i've never seen (or done-and i've broke alot of stuff), is definately not good.

as for what you need to do to complete this job, you could look HERE, or just do a search on rear diff's. it's been talked about alot.