ok, this is my last post before i go to bed, I swear... the rear on my 56 pontiac leaks grease out the passenger side all over the wheel and slings it all up under the wheelwell, I should have fixed this before I moved out here to tennessee, as now I have to go back to arkansas and try to get it done over the thanksgiving vacation so I can drive her home... I found the bearing kit online for about 15 bucks, thing is, they dont list a seal for it...is the seal built in with the bearing? If not, is there a place where I can order the parts I need and have them waiting on me back in good old Ozark AR when I get there? I have learned to repair almost everything in these old cars I love, from bodywork, to complete wiring, to upholstery, to rebuilding the engines...but the only experience I have at changing rear wheel bearings was on a 1 ton Ford Truck a loooooong time ago, what kind of special tools, if any, am I going to need to pull this off on a 56 pontiac???? any help/info would be GREATLY appreciated
The seal installs in the housing. If you need a new axle bearing, [and it sounds like you do] it will need to be pressed on and off the axle shaft with a press. Machine shops do this.
Have you removed these axles before? From the sounds of it in my Motors manual, they should just pull out with a slide hammer, (or the chain metod recently mentioned). What I'm saying is, it doesn't sound like there are any special clips inside the rear that hold the axles in, like on a Chevy.