Complete rear axle replacement?

[TaosTertel]

Heyyo! So I had some excitement recently when I took a corner going about 40 mph and my passenger side rear wheel came flying off the car with the brake drum and axle shaft still attached to it, like I said, exciting. Upon inspection I found the housing is cracked so I found a complete rear axle with the housing for roughly $300 near by but now I'm wondering how to swap it. I do most of the work on the car on the ground with a limited amount of tools but I recently got access to a small garage. Any tricks or tips are greatly appreciated.

[NWMO]

Just completed this a couple of months ago, not bad. Make sure to SAFELY support the car when swapping. Spray all the bolts/nuts needing removed with a penetrant a few times days before. An impact wrench is useful as well.

Also, confirm your new rear end gearing matches the front. If not, swap the third member (gasket is still available) before putting the replacement rear end under the car. Good wrenching!

[TaosTertel]

Thanks so much!
On the gear ratio though: how can I find that out without a rear wheel? The Chilton says to mark the wheel and roll the car while counting the rotations of the drive shaft.. I'm guessing I can support the rear end and spin the one good wheel to do this?

[Mattel]

What year is your car and what is the one the new axle is from?

[NWMO]

Taos,

Unless I was absolutely certain, I would check it, it’s too easy to do not to. It sounds like you have one wheel on and the other off? I would support the rear end so the tire was on the ground and NOT spinning. I would then use chalk or a piece of tape to mark the differential input shaft and the hub with no wheel. With two known starting points (say both straight up), spin the axle hub/drum (paying attention to which way the pinion shaft spins) 1 revolution. Your input shaft (pinion) will have rotated just over or just under 4 revolutions. If under, it’s a 3.73; if over, it’s a 4.11.

Chris

[TaosTertel]

Cool, thanks Chris. I also wasn't sure if there were more ratios than those two so that's helpful.
And @Mattel they're both the same: 85, 6 speed sr5 wagons

[Mattel]

1985 was the changeover model year of the ratios. maybe check the month of build

[TaosTertel]

Will do. Good to know, thanks!

[TaosTertel]

Update: got the axle swapped in about a half a day thanks to a friend's garage/lift. Thanks for all the pointers!

[NWMO]

Nice work, enjoy your car and share some pics of your adventures.