Thread: Rear axle help

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I've got a 69' Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham that has a seal leak in the right rear axle. I decided since the car is so old I might as well replace the bearings since I'll have to take out the axles anyways. When the guy came out of the back of the shop with the bearings I thought he had the wrong ones, because he brought out sealed axle bearings which I have never seen. These have to be pressed on. Has anyone worked on one of these before? If so, can I just take apart the brakes, unbolt the axle housing, and pull the axle straight out or, do I have to pull the pumkin on the rear differential and pull clips out to get the axles out of the rear end? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Vegas

Not directly familar with '69 Cad, but being a GM of that vintage it probably has a sheet metal cover on the back of the axle housing held on with 10 or 12 bolts. If it has a "solid" axle housing (no cover on the back) and a drop out "pumpkin" you won't have to pull that, the axle will come out by just unbolting the bearing retainer (well, you'll probably need a slide hammer or something similar because the bearing is probably very used to it's home and will need to be persuaded).

If the housing does have the back cover then yes, you'll have to take that off to remove the "C" clip retainer, then unbolt the bearing retainer at the brake end. There is likely a seal down in the housing that is your culprit so don't forget to pull that out and press in a new one.

Pressed on, sealed axle bearings are the norm unless you're working on something REALLY old.

Thanks Bob. The pumkin looks like a round ball until it goes up to the front side of the differential, never seen anything like it. The roundness actually smooths out into the axles. From what I understand this axle was only used in the Fleetwood Broughams and in the strech limo Cadillacs. This is the last leak in the car I have to fix! I've already bought the seals and the bearings so now I just have to pull the axles and take them down, and have the old bearings and seals pressed off, them the new ones on. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

Vegas