82 rear pinion/u-joint replacement

[keane777]

***HELP***82 rear pinion/u-joint replacement

My rear seal is leaking like crazy. I jacked her up and got under to assess the work. There is a crossmember blocking my access to the shaft/bolts to get to the pinion seal. I need some information on correctly and safely getting to and fixing the seal / u-joints.

Any help with steps/procedures would be greatly appreciated.

Let me know

JK

 

[Blue82]

I usually come in from the drivers side (so right hand is on ratchet) to remove the u-joint straps. You need to have the rear of the car off the ground and put it in neutral so you can rotate the drive shaft to where you need it. The only way I could get to them is to use a socket and a long extension so you can get past the front of the yolk and along side of the drive shaft. I don' think there is enough room at the bolt to use a wrench or a ratchet.

Make sure you don't need a special socket. My car had 13 point bolt heads so I had to buy a set of 13 point sockets. I rounded off the points on two of the bolts the second time I removed them so I replaced them with hardened 6 point bolts.

Also, don't drop a bolt in the cup where the front differential mount is. It is a real bear getting it out even with a magnet.

Good luck.

 

[keane777]

Thanks Blue. How do you work with that crossmember in the way?

 

[Tweek]

They are tough to get at, the 12 point bolt is used so that you can use a 12 point wrench with little turns. As Blue said it is much easier to go from the tranny end in with a socket, I also changed bolts to the 6 point for the same reason. If your using old bolts, don't forget some thread locker to maintain your tork settings on the bolts. Watch you don't over tighten

Ron

 

[Blue82]

You have to use an extension long enough to put the ratchet in front of the cross member and the front of the differential. You will basically have the it laying next to the drive shaft.

 

[sixty9vette]

After having done it with the long extensions method a few times, I was told to try this... Remove the tranny side ujoint straps first, then slide the differential back a bit with the driveshaft still attached. Then it's much easier to deal with removing the pinion ujoint straps. Of course, in the case of an '82, you'll have to drop the diff down a bit to clear the ears of that one-piece cover/crossmember bracket, then you can go backwards.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

777,

I did my rear pinion seal on my 82 last year. You need to remove the U-joints clamps from the ront of the driveshaft first, then do the rears. The rear bolts can be removed from the pinion shaft with a combination wrench as long as the rear end is off the ground and you can rotate the driveshaft.
There is enough clearance to get a wrench between the differential and the crossmember,but only from the passenger side. it's tight, but you can do it!
Once the driveshaft is removed, you need about a 2Ft. extension on your socket wrench to get the bolt on the pinion gear loosened. Mark the bolt head with a center punch so that you can re-tighten it to the same spot when you re-assemble it.
The seal can be accessed by either removing the the two side bolts on the differential and dropping the front of the differential down,or by reaching down the tunnel up to your elbow to get the old seal out and replaced.
The spare tire carrier will have to be removed to get to the filling plug on the rear if the differential to refill it.
Good luck!