The replacement of the axle shafts is a dirty, but fairly easy task to accomplish.  Your average shade tree mechanic or do it yourselfer can do this swap in a day ( if you have the right tools that is).  I had to make a trip to the local parts store and rent a slide hammer with 3 jaws so that I could remove the VERY stubborn axle bearings.  Some other magazines had reported that you can pull them out with the end of the old axle.  I would have loved to see them remove mine with this method.  I tried and what I got was about 15 little pieces along with a huge headache.  

Start out by making sure your vehicle has the wheels chocked and then jack up the rear end and place the axle on jack stands.  Remove the tires and wheels, in my case I have axle spacers and had to remove them after the tires and wheels.  The shop I had do my ring and pinion gears had put the spacers back on with an impact wrench, even after I SPECIFICALLY TOLD THEM NOT TO!  Needless to say they were a pain to get off and one lug nut would not come off.   I rounded the ears off it with a 12 pt socket, then a 6, finally  I tried hammering on an 18mm socket, no dice, now I had a completely round nut on the stud.  After 2  grueling hours of trying, I ended up destroying an $80 adapter to get the axle off.    

Once you have the wheels and tires removed,  you need to take off the brake drums and then remove the differential cover and drain the oil (oh, by the way, now may be a good time to change your differential fluid as well).  This is the nasty smelly part!  I can't think of any other fluid on my K-5 that reeks the way gear oil does.  Now, since I have a Detroit Locker in the rear axle, the rest of the swap is very easy for me. If you have spider gears it will be slightly harder and if you have a Lock Right locker or an EZ Locker, its a little more fun because of having to remove the pins and small springs involved in the two lockers.  If you have ever put one in you know exactly what I am talking about.  Taking them out is even more fun!  I have never had or used a Limited slip, so you will have to go with their instructions on disassembly for those type differentials.

The Detroit C-locker that I have makes it very easy to remove the shafts.  You pull out the bolt that holds in the Cross-shaft, remove the cross-shaft,  then you push one axle in at a time and remove the c-clip with a magnet.  Then simply pull the axles out and that's it.  On spider gears, remove the bolt that holds the cross shaft, remove the cross shaft and take out all the spider gears and thrust washers.  Push in the axles one at a time and remove the c-clips.  You folks with Lock Rights and EZ lockers will have to refer to your installation manuals on removal of your locker before you can take out the axles.

Once I had the stock axles removed I found several stress fractures in the risers of the splined end it was time for a high quality replacement.  The Moser shafts are very high quality, made of premium alloy steel, they are forged in Moser Engineering designed tooling, induction heat treated to optimize strength, and then 100% magna-fluxed to ensure perfect axles.   Now comes another fun part, you have to remove the old axle bearings, if you are going to the trouble of putting in new axle shafts, you might as well replace the bearings, that way you have a little extra insurance down the road, not to mention you are already there and should one fail you wont have to do this process all over again.  Also, if the bearing fails it usually damages the axle as well.  The Oil seals I removed with a large screwdriver, I tried to remove the wheel bearings with the same screwdriver, then the end of the old axle shaft, then a crow bar.  The only thing that came out was the cage and the bearings themselves.  The race was stuck fast and parts of it had broken off.  I tried a rigged up slide hammer with a hook on it, to no avail, I just tore off more of the metal lips on the race.  Finally, I went to the local parts store and rented a 3 jaw slide hammer.  After much adjustment and re-adjustment of the jaws during pulling,  they finally came out (which translates to about an hour and a half of cussing and fussing).

Once the stock bearings and races have been removed, the rest of the installation is very easy.  You take the new bearings and tap them in place with a dead blow hammer (so that you don't damage them).  The thinner part goes in first and after installation about 1/8 of an inch remains sticking out of the axle shaft.  This is normal and they will not go in any farther.  Slide in the new axle shafts, being careful of the seals in the bearings, put the c-clips back on the axle shafts and pull out the shafts to seat the c-clips.  Then, depending on if you have spider gears, a locker, or limited slip, you put it back together per the manufacturer's instructions.  Bolt the cover back on and fill with the fluid of your choice.  Re-install the brake drums and the wheels and tires and you are ready to roll.  

102 Performance Drive Portland IN  47371 phone (219) 726-6689 fax (219) 726-4159 www.moserengineering.com rmoser@moserengineering.com