The differential in my 1987 240 Sedan, automatic tranny, 188K miles, ground up yesterday. It will go forward under noise and kept under 30 mph but DON'T let it coast or dare to back up... it will bind and freeze. So I am planning to get the whole axle housing out and put another one in asap. Can anyone tell me if this is major nightmare or just simple unbolting and rebolting. I am particularly wanting to know if the trailing arms have to be removed or one end lowered or something? Can this be done in a day? All advice gratefully accepted and appreciated. No, I wouldn't even THINK about operating on the gearset I want to just yank the whole housing out and be done with it. -Dave in Arizona

Now have taken out the donor axle housing, the morning after removing the bad one from my vehicle. Reinstalling was a nightmare only due to the emergency brake mechanisms. It took hours to get them back together and get the rotors to slip on. After that it took two days of driving and re-bleeding the brake lines to get brakes back to normal. I never want to do this job again. The donor axle/differential runs great and all's well that ends well. However, I'm starting a new thread on same vehicle that has ongoing stalling out and dying at highway speeds problem during very hot weather. Thanks again to everyone who replied with info on differential replacement.
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Genesis 7:11

I've just done this.

Don't disconnect the brakes. Free the 2 clips and one bracket on the axle, undo the calipers, tie the whole lot up out of the way.

Don't dismantle the parking brakes. Release the cables at the lever inside and swap complete with the axle.

Take the opportunity to replace the big trailing arm bushes if needed. It's a dead easy job with the axle upside down on the ground.

Be aware the ratio may be different, depending on which model the replacement came from.

Remember the breather pipe and the speedo sender wires.

"After that it took two days of driving and re-bleeding the brake lines to get brakes back to normal. I never want to do this job again."

Congratulations on a big job done, Dave. But I'm not sure why the brake bleeding was needed, unless you disconnected the rear calipers. Did you find that to be necessary because (with the springs removed) there was no place to hang the (still connected) calipers from?

In any case, here's a canned post that might help on future brake work when a brake line has to be opened :

You can prevent Master Cylinder Brake Fluid Loss from any/all open brake line(s) by blocking the brake pedal depressed before you start. It only takes an inch or two on the pre-ABS 240s. The ABS 240s need more pedal travel, like the 700/900 cars (in which case the bleeder needs to be open while pedal is being depressed).

I made a wooden prop that hooks to the bottom edge of the pedal and bears against the 240 seat adjuster bar. It's handy for checking brake lights too. But remember to disconnect the battery or pull a fuse to keep brake lights off while the pedal prop is in place.
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Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

Thanks to everybody who answered, all info was good and helped a lot. I did this job this morning and it took me 2 hours working time after finding tools, jacking blocks and all that. Trailing arms stay connected to body at the front and they just swing down and the axle housing just rolls out, easy as pie. The two tough parts are getting the e-brake cables off and taking off the rear muffler and pipe that runs under the housing. Tailpipe connections NEVER wanna come apart. Thanks again to everybody for the info it made the job a lot easier.
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Genesis 7:11

As said, pretty straight forward. Held to the car in 5 places: trailing arms, torque rods, and track rod. Then a couple flexy brake hoses and the speedo sender wiring.

-Ryan
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Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 324k, Dog-mobile, E-codes
1990 245 DL 137k M47, E-codes, GT Sways/Braces, Dracos, A-cam
1990 744GLE 189K 16-valve project
1991 745 GL 304k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars

I pulled one out of a 86 wagon in the pick-a-part and it only took me about an hour. It was already high enough off the ground to get it out. I had never pulled one from a 240 before that. It seem like I loosened the front trailing arm bolts to make it easier. FYI, bring a breaker bar or a cheater pipe for your 1/2" ratchet. Also, bring a floor jack. There is only the two bolts for the rear trailing arms, two torque rod bolts and one pan-hard rod bolt. The one brake line can be taken loose at fitting at the "Y" block...or just cut the flexible line before the Y block and wrestle it loose when you've got it out and laying in your garage. Also you will need to take the two bolts out that attach the springs unless you want to buy those too.

Good Luck

If it's teh entire Axle (whole rear end) It is very straight forward job.
I see only two possible Kinks in the Full Axle swap

The Brakeline to the rear axle Housing is frozen and wont come loose.

The E-brake cables fight you since they have never been touched.

Other then that, unbolt the driveshaft, unbolt the Torque rods from the upper part of the axle, unbolt the lower part of the shocks to relax the springs then the Trailing arm bolts the thing should hit you in the head followed by the Springs falling down.

Put the rear of the car up on jackstands then have floor jacks under each side of the axle to support it as you disassemble.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html

Unless you get lucky and find one with the rear trailing arm bushings in great shape you will want to change those out.

That task involves another chapter in the swap story, perhaps you are familiar with the steps and process involved in replacing rear trailing arm bushings. Unless you enjoy the process do not use any stinking Scan Tech bushings under any circumstances because they will guarantee having to do the job again in a short amount of time.

On the other hand swapping RTA bushings is a light duty assignment when the rear axle assembly is itself removed from the car.

Good luck,

Randy

Axel housing . . . ? I guess I don't understand; isn't the differential housing permanently attached to the axle? You're either replacing gears or swapping the rear-end.

As far as I know, you can go one of two routes: rebuild the diff. or drop the whole rear-end and swap in a new one. If you drop the rear-end, you'll need to remove the springs, trailing arms, torque rods, panhard rod, shocks, and the drive shaft, of course. Then there's the brake lines (and emergency brake cable), and some fuel pump stuff that I think may get clipped to the rear axle. It's actually not difficult, just a big job.

I've removed a rear-end on a parts car in about half an hour (clipped brake lines) but I've also replaced my springs and all of the bushings in the rear-end, so I basically had that one hanging free. Now would be a good time to replace bushings.

Personally, I love my brick and have no desire to swap the rear-end unless I could find a limited-slip rear. I'd take it to a shop and have them rebuild the differential like new.