Questions and Answers

Chevy Suburban ¾-ton Axle Rear Seals Q. Hi, Vince, I have a 1978 Chevy Suburban ¾-ton with a 454 engine. Both rear brake drums are dripping rear end grease. My question is, how much trouble is it to pull the rear axles? What is sequence I should use in pulling the axles to replace the seals? Thanks in advance, Al

A. You could have one of two different types of axles in this truck. A "floating" rear will have bolts holding in the actual axle shaft on each side when hub cap is pulled along with the lug nuts. These bolts will be inside the circle of lug nuts. You need to remove the tire, axle, there will be some sort of locking system on the wheel bearing to remove the drum to access the seals.

There will possibly be a "peened" washer that is peened at a spot somewhere on it's diameter that needs to be bent out so you can remove it and then you will need a large axle nut socket to remove the primary nut.

Then there should be another locking ring with many holes in it that one of which is on a pin that is sticking out of the secondary lock nut. After removing both nuts, the drum should pull off if the brakes are un-adjusted enough.

The other type of axle will need to have the rear cover removed and a pin unbolted from the differential case to push the axle shafts in to release the "C" clips. Then the axle will slide out.