1979toy

I can't help much with the play. On my car there was NO play with it jacked up and everything connected. After removing the halfshaft there was over a half of an inch of play in the wheel bearing. I think that the angle of the u-joints binds up the movement. There was a squeeling noise that caused this work to be started. After getting the left rear apart the mechanic found no bearings, only races, in the left rear. :U
I understand that the job can be done on the car. I removed my trailing arms with the lower control arms attached (no special tools required) and took them to the local Corvette specialist. Still not cheap since he knows that he's the only game in town.
With all of the talk about what a pain it is to remove the trailing arm pivot bolts I don't understand why nobody has mentioned how hard it is to get the new bolts in! :boxing
E-mail me direct if you decide to pull the trailing arms and I'll give you my thoughts on how to make it go smooth.

Pedro'74

Rick,

Here's a link that may be helpful:
http://www.vansteel.com/Removal/rwbear.html

-Pedro

GTR1999

You have to determine if the play is in the bearings or the rear end yoke. Have someone look at the yoke to see if it's going in 1/4" when you push/pull on it. If you want disconnect the 1/2 shaft at the control arm and see if you still have 1/4" movement. Changing rear bearings isn't bad if you have the tools and experience setting up things to close tolerances,.001-.002"
Monty has a great link to this job but I lost the address when my conputer crashed a few weeks ago, someone here should still have it.
Gary