[David J]

Never done it but if you unhook { carefully } the drivers side spring shackle , take the hub-drum & backing plate off the drivers side , disconnect the drivers side shock , take the drivers side radius rod off , take the passenger side hub-drum off , take the drivers side axle housing off & you can pull the axle-diff assy out . The only problem I see is the gasket thickness thing but you will have to deal with that no matter where the rear end is . There has got to be someone out there that's done this ? Check the end of your housing for gouging or whatever . If you have marks on the end of the axle housing take a real good look at the wheel bearing-hub . Dunno on the tourque thing - I just use a fairly long box end and give it a good pull . You didn't say what side or where it broke so you will be able to skip a step above . If you do it this way let us know how it goes .

Originally Posted by FlatheadFanFromMI

My questions are; can this be done while the rear end is still in the car? any reason to disconnect the torque tube? any other typical damage I should check for? best vendor for gaskets, seals, bearings, etc ? Any thoughts on the castle nut torque sppec? I've read that it needs to be 200 lbs/ft, and I know I didn't use that much when we did the restoration 10 years ago. Would these not being torqued enough cause the axle to fatigue? Thanks in advance!