Totally. Not touching the axle housing, just pulling the axles out. If I had money and a back-up vehicle, I would pull the whole axle, clean & paint & rebuild it and the leaf springs, etc...but it's not going to happen. For now, I'm doing it the "easiest" way possible (and actually, looking through the FSM, it does look pretty easy).

 

Juuust about done (I hope), but I have a question. I'm sure that after giving it another shot I'll get it just fine, but figured I'd ask: anybody have any tricks for getting the brake lines hooked back up? I spent about a half hour just on one side trying to get it to thread back in, all the while losing brake fluid, and finally gave up for the night. I'm sure it's just one of those things that gets easier the more you do it, but figured I'd check to see if anyone has any tricks that help.

Otherwise it's going pretty good. I had to drill new holes in the flange of the 3rd since they're a different pattern, and that gave me a little trouble and slowed things down a lot...but I think I've got it so it will work now. I pretty much just need to get the brake lines hooked up, put the wheels/tires back on, then fill it up with gear oil. Then I'll see if this was really the cause of my noise or not. I didn't seen anything in the gears of my old 3rd that looked bad, but the noise I was hearing seemed more like bearings than gears anyways, so I figure I won't be able to see any damage.

 

I found its easier to remove the bleeder above it, just my .02
im in the middle of my rear axle rebuild

 

Yeah, I already pulled the brake lines, though, since I wasn't dealing with bearings/seals etc., so now I'm struggling to get them back on. I think I just need an extra hand. Trying to push the brake line in, hold it there, then push the flare nut into the hole, hold it there, and then get the wrench on it and attempt to get it to thread...that's a lot for one person.

 

Well, the good news is that I got it all back together, it drives fine, and no leaks so far.

Bad news is that my noise is still there. Looks like it must be the t-case. Crap.