cluelesscutlass

im hearin some funny noises and im pretty sure its the rear wheel bearings. so since i never have done this im gonna need alittle guidance. is this a job a newbie can do or am i bitting off more then i can chew. are parts easy to come by?

svnt442

There are some things we need to know first. What year it the car? What axle is in the car?

If you have bolt in axles you won't need to remove the diff cover, but you will need to have the bearings pressed on and off. The shop that presses the bearings off can inspect the shafts for damage at this time.

If you have C-clip axles then you will need to remove the cover (thus draining the diff of fluid), remove the cross shaft (making sure not to mess up the spider gears), push each axle in until the C-clip falls off and then pull them out. Then you will have to remove the seals and bearings from the housing. Make sure to inspect the bearing surface of each axle shaft. I have see major grooves cut into them from a bad bearing that required the replacement of the shafts. Watch for metal shavings on the fluid when you drain it. This can be a tell tale sign that you have a wasted bearing. If you do end up with shavings then I would suggest a complete tear down of the carrier to inspect everything. Metal shavings have a bad habit of messing everything up.

Installation is the reverse of removal, but a second pair of hands when installing the C-clips is almost mandatory.

cluelesscutlass

72 cutlass. i believe its a 10 bolt 323 ratio

svnt442

You still need to determine what it is. There are quite a few different 10 bolt axles and being that the car is 40 years old you need to determine what you actually have.

cluelesscutlass

i kind of have two threads going for the same problem. im told its a open rear. how else can i narrow it down are there any identifying numbers. can you check out this video of the rear end making nasty noises. its at www.cluelesscutlass.blogspot.com

svnt442

That is a hell of a noise. It is hard to nail down from the video, but it almost sounds like it's resonating through the driveshaft, but again I can't tell.

In the first video turning it by hand there was some clunking going on. That could either be a bad U-joint or massive slop between the ring and pinion, or even a bad pinion bearing allowing the pinion to move up and down slamming into the housing.

You're going to have to bit the bullet and either tear it down or have someone do it for you (the better option).

Where are you located?

cluelesscutlass

I'm in maui. It sounds like parts won't be too much of an issue. Finding someone reliable out here is the hard part.

svnt442

Clean off the passenger side axle tube on look for some numbers stamped into it. Also look for any numbers cast into the housing it self. All of that together will help identify what you have for sure.

Also if you pull one of the wheels off and remove a brake drum you can tell right away if you have bolt in axles or not. Just look for extra holes in the mounting flange between the wheel studs. If they are there it's a bolt in, if not it's a C-clip.

cluelesscutlass

hey finally got under the car numbers on the passenger side pumpkin are 1235197. i have the four bolts behind the drum. didnt see anynumbers on the tube.