I have the wheels off and the calipers removed what do i do from here to get to the axle and replace it. I have an 87 chevy 4x4 mud truck.
Hi Rick I have this info from a 40 year garage owner, and mechanic. 1. Brake rotor has to come off 2. Baring hub has to come off 3. there will be an opening 6 in, in diameter roughly 4. Put a pan under front differential 5.Now remove front differential inspection cover. 6 rotate differential so you can see into spider gears 7. There is a long screw with a 5/16 th head runs cross ways parallel to axle, and must be removed. 8. carefully pull the pin down so the axle can be pushed inward into the differential. 9 After pushing inward you will find a C retainer around the axle. 10 Remove the retainer and remove axle.( Be very careful when removing spider gear pin NOT to let spider gears to slip out, HIGHLY recommend an experienced Mechanic present. ) 11. reverse your actions when re-install procedure
go to a muffler shop and they will custom make it should be less than 250 for dual exhaust and a good quality mufflers.
If this is a solid front axle you next remove the lockout hubs (usually 6 or 8 allen head bolts). You then have to figure out which style axle you have and what sort of locking mechanism they used. Some its a simple bent washer sort of thing. Others you are supposed to use a special tool but you can usually use a screwdriver and a hammer to wack off the outer nut that will then allow you to remove a keyed washer that will then allow you to spin out the main nut that holds the bearing in. Once you have the bearing out the rotor and hub will slide off. Be careful not to damage the inner seal if you dont plan to replace it but while you have it all apart it would be good to clean out the bearings and re pack them and replace the seal. With all this off you will now see something like 6 bolts that hold that tube to the knuckle. Remove those bolts and it should come off. At this point all you have to do is figure out how the other end of the axle releases and you can just slide it out. Remember to put the brake dust shield back in as you are putting things back together. Too many times I am about to put the tire back on and see it laying on the ground. That is where it stays too because I was not about to pull it all apart again. If its the independent suspension the rotor should just slide off and you need a special socket and a massive impact wrench to remove the big nut you see (after you remove the cotter pin). The inner side of the axle is held on with I think 6 bolts. Depending on the model sometimes you can finagle the axle out by removing the sway bar links and other times you have to pop loose a ball joint to swing the knuckle out of the way.
