Changing rear pumkin

thundrburd

Registered User
Ok, I now have a pumkin with 373's and trac-loc in it, and am wanting to put it into my 95, is this a hard job ? I dont know a whole lot about cars but I am not stupid so If it is something semi easy I am sure I could do it, but if anyone could help out with what I would need to do it, or let me know how big of a job and if its a easy job or not that would be greatly appreciated, also if there is anything else that needs to be done for the tracloc to work with the trac assist , thanks
 
Fairly easy job. I'm sure someone will fix whatever I'm mis-stating, so here goes.

Removal:
1. get the rear of the car in the air and supported with jack stands.
2. remove the driveshaft bolts and disconnect the abs sensors.
3. remove either rear wheel.
4. support the lower control arm with a jack.
5. remove upper control arm bolt on top of spindle (you might have to remove the brake caliper first, I cannot remember).
6. swing spindle down towards you (at some point, use a screwdriver or pry bar to pop the axle out of the pumpkin) and continue to move the spindle until the axle clears the pumpkin.
7. remove the pumpkin (with a jcak of course and you'll need to pop the other axle out as you are lowering the pumpkin).

Installation
1. reverse removal steps :D

There are some minor details you should easily be able to figure out on your own. Or you can call one of us local guys.
 
Alright thanks kurt, sounds pretty simple, I dont know what all the fancy names for parts are, but I'm sure a manual would help for that, so to the parts store I will go before I start this project, and if I cant figure something out I will be posting, so keep a lookout for me, thanks
 
You'll need a gigantic socket to get the packnut/elephant-nut/spindle nut off. I'd loosen that up first with the car on the ground. Remember you'll need to put on a new nut with 250 FOOT POUNDS.

I don't support the lower control arm b/c it's not necessary.

brakes will have to come off to make this easy.

remove the entire rear knuckle to. (but, you don't have to.)

You'll need a really big screw driver to pop-out the half-shaft from the pumpkin. I juse a pry bar that I got from harbor freight. (cheap).

to pull the pumpkin straight down, you'll have to take off both rear knuckles. It'll make re-installation much easier.

pumpkin needs a bottle of friction modifier with a fresh fluid change.

also, people tend to make a mark on the drive shaft and the differential so that upon re-assembly they line up the same way. I know, you don't PLAN on putting in the original pumpkin, but...

You'll need to hold a box-wrench on top of the bolts that attach the pumpkin to the sub-frame. Otherwise, you'll just keep spinning around and around.

put some anti-seize on the splines of the half-shaft where it goes into the hub on the knuckle. It'll make later diss-assembly easier. This first time you might have to do a little convincing with a ball-peen hammer.

While you have it all apart, give the end of the drive shaft a nice swivel and make sure your U-joints are in good health. Pull the shaft backwards out of the transmission and do the same with the front. Maybe you'll put in some nice Spicer u-joints while you're in there.

You're supposed to re-assemble the knuckles with the suspension fully loaded. i.e. the car back on the ground. I haven't done it this way. The car is supposed to ride a bit higher if you don't do it the right way, but I've been lucky I guess.
 
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Anthony,

The exhaust will also have to be removed. Put loctite on the driveshaft bolts when reinstalling. Job will be much much easier with two people.

David
 
so with the exhaust , will I be able to put it back on myself or am I going to have to have a shop do that, how long of a job is this roughly ? I was going to make my brother help me maybe on a sunday but I work till 3 so I would only have about 4 hours to work on it, is that enough time , or should I plan on it being a 2 sunday project ? thanks, hopefully I can do this, if not oh well I will have to pay someone
 
so with the exhaust , will I be able to put it back on myself or am I going to have to have a shop do that, how long of a job is this roughly ? I was going to make my brother help me maybe on a sunday but I work till 3 so I would only have about 4 hours to work on it, is that enough time , or should I plan on it being a 2 sunday project ? thanks, hopefully I can do this, if not oh well I will have to pay someone

Unbolt the exhaust at the Resonator, unhook the 3 hangers and let it drop. Two people could do it easily in four hours but you want to leave time for error or something going wrong. Anytime you allot time for a repair on these. Keep in mind "if its breakable, It most likely will"

Better to take the time and do it all in one shot. The exhaust and the driveshaft are the easy part. Just as Dave said, use lok-tite on the driveshaft bolts. They will back out if you dont. Make sure you use new crush nuts.
 
You'll need a gigantic socket to get the packnut/elephant-nut/spindle nut off. I'd loosen that up first with the car on the ground. Remember you'll need to put on a new nut with 250 FOOT POUNDS.

Removing the 36mm halfshaft nuts isn't necessary if you do it the way Kurt described. With as often as I change out diffs, it saves some time and $$ (don't have to buy new nuts every time). I just remove the bolt attaching the knuckle to the upper control arm on both sides, and pop the halfshafts out of the diff and out of the way.

-Rod
 
Removing the 36mm halfshaft nuts isn't necessary if you do it the way Kurt described. With as often as I change out diffs, it saves some time and $$ (don't have to buy new nuts every time). I just remove the bolt attaching the knuckle to the upper control arm on both sides, and pop the halfshafts out of the diff and out of the way.

-Rod

Ditto...just requires a little side to side shifting to get the shafts lined up when going back up with the new pumpkin.

David
 
Why not do it the right way. He said he wasn't stupid but he doesnt know much about cars. The short cuts and side to side shifting are for the guys that already know how to replace them because they have done it several times.


thundrburd.......take from it what you want.
 
Dahoopd,

David, Kurt, and I all know Tony. He shouldn't have any trouble, and if he does, he can call one of us to help him out.

I just see no reason at all for completely removing the halfshafts, thereby having to buy new halfshaft nuts and going through the pain of torqueing them.

-Rod
 
Anthony,

The exhaust will also have to be removed. Put loctite on the driveshaft bolts when reinstalling. Job will be much much easier with two people.

David

I can't believe I forgot about the PITA exhaust that I cuss everytime I have to drop it and re-install it.

Oh well, I said people would chime in and clean it up, and they did.
 
so with the exhaust , will I be able to put it back on myself or am I going to have to have a shop do that, how long of a job is this roughly ? I was going to make my brother help me maybe on a sunday but I work till 3 so I would only have about 4 hours to work on it, is that enough time , or should I plan on it being a 2 sunday project ? thanks, hopefully I can do this, if not oh well I will have to pay someone

There's no reason to pay someone to do the job, we know you can do it.

As for the exhaust, mine is welded into one big huge piece from the headers to the tailpipes and I can (and have) reinstalled it by myself. It sucked, but it can be done. If yours comes apart after the resonator, it should be pretty easy. I'd still make your brother help you though.
 
No exhaust removal on my '95

I was able to replace my pumpkin on my '95 without removing the exhaust. You just have to be patient and work around it coming up and down. My exhaust is welded now and I would have had to drop the whole thing as 1 piece. Took me about 3 hours and it was my first. I could do it in an hour now WITH the exhaust in place. Just use a small floor jack. Place the new pumpkin on it ahead of time to find the balance point. Place it under that point on the old one before you start loosening it as it's quite a handful while you're laying on your back.
 
When I have done it I've kept the half shafts on the knuckles but actually removed all three bolts and pulled the knuckle out with the shaft (and yes this was done on my own as no one is close enough to give me a hand ;), extra jack comes in handy here ).

I didn't like the angle that was being forced on the CV joint of the shaft with just rotating the knuckle as suggested above.
 
I didn't like the angle that was being forced on the CV joint of the shaft with just rotating the knuckle as suggested above.
Yeah, that's true, you do get into a pretty tight angle on the CV joint. I just didn't feel like removing the 2 bolts.
 
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