(DRIVETRAIN) How To: Remove the differential
 

Well, I did a bunch of searching... all I found was diff upgrades and "will this fit in this" threads.. I haven't seen a thread with shiny pretty pics of the procedure. Would be nice to see that kind of thing.. So far it seems intimidating.. Or maybe just a step by step would be nice. I just need to swap from one 82 GSL to another 82 GSL. One of my diff's is whining.. the other is fine.

Here's my take on the situation.
1. drain fluid
2. remove rear cover
3. unbolt 3rd member
4. remove wheels/brakes/disks (I have disks)
5. pull axles out to release 3rd member???
6. pull 3rd member out.. replace with other 3rd member..
7. steps 1-5 in reverse.


Is that about correct? Can somebody revise? I'd like to do this this weekend if it'll only take me a couple hours. The whining is killing me.. I feel like its gonna grenade at any second. hehe.

Minor issues
 

1. You should unbolt the diffy filler plug (the one on top) before the drain plug. If that plug wont come off, then how would you fill it up?

2. What rear cover are you referring to? the cover is part of the 3rd member

I was going to fill in the blanks and make corrections, but section 9 of the 85 FSM covers about 1/2 of what you need along with some very good diagrams.

Have you checked/changed the diff fluid recently?

A few suggestions to help you out:

Download the FSM and read Section 9.

Soak all nuts, bolts and plugs with P B Blaster 24 hours before starting.

Before you even drain the fluid, make sure you can remove the fill plug. If you can't, don't start until you find a way to remove it. Severly rusted/siezed plugs sometimes need a 3/8" shorty extension welded to the plug, then you'll need a replacement plug once you get it out. Crack the drain plug too.

Break the lug bolts loose before jacking up the car and set 2 jackstands under the axle.

Loosen the e-brake adjuster at the handle to facilitate disconnecting the cable ends from the calipers.

When you unbolt the calipers, use a coat hanger/wire to hang them off to the side until you have the flex line disconnected. Hard line will need to be carefully slipped out of the backing plate.

After caliper and bracket, remove the 3 nuts and bolts holding the axle to the housing flange.

Loosely bolt a spare spare tire or junk rim onto the axle flange. You can beat on that to pop the axles out 3-4". Otherwise, rent an axle puller.

Now is the time to inspect the axle bearings, that may be your whine.

Drop the driveshaft.

Never put a socket to the pinion flange nut unless you plan on buying a new crush tube and resetting the diff.

Unbolt an pull the diff from the front. There is no back cover, which tells me your research didn't include the FSM. :)

That covers the basics and a few tricks. Now you get to take pics of the swap and do a write up.