Can I drop the whole differential and crossmember at once? Or do I have to pull the cover off then pull the differential itself?

Thanks!
:cheers:

 

Dropping the whole crossmember is MUCH easier than trying to access the 4 bolts without dropping it :yesnod: .

 

All I see is 3 bolts. The 2 that hold the crossmember up, and one at the front of the diff. Where is the 4th?

 

There are 4 holding the diff to the crossmember, those the ones I was referring to :)

 

Oh, okay. Awesome. Thanks a bunch!
:cheers:

 

No, there are 4 bolts that hold the cover to the crossmember. You have to disconnect the driveshaft and half shafts(I think I can do it without removing them, maybe...) unbolt the single bolt in the front, and the two bolts that hold the crossmember up. Drop it down, unbolt the 4 bolts that attach the crossmember to the diff cover, remove the cover, reverse the order.

 

Well, all thats left under there is the diff. So nothing can really get in the way.

 

assuming your refering to the '80, you just have to disconnect the suspension bits and pieces and then the three bolts for the carrier and the entire unit drops out whole. you'll notice that in '80 chevrolet started using the aluminum diffs very similar to that of your '88. both are dana guts with housings made by alcoa.
start by dropping the exhaust system and then the strut rods. remove the spare tire and lower tire carrier. then you'll need to remove the spring and disconnect all shaft u-joints. put a floor jack or a transmission jack under the pumpkin and remove the bolts on both ends of the 'batwing' and the forward tongue of the differential carrier. at this point, good bushings will hold the differential in there, bad bushing will let it just drop--that's why the jack should be right up there. if the bushings hold it in, you will need to use a pry bar on either end to work the batwing down onto the jack.
this isn't that bad a job and an extra hand would be advisable but is not absolutely necessary. the dana weighs about 75# wet so if you can balance it on the jack you'll most likely be fine.
hope that helps. let me know if you have any other questions about it and i will help as best i can. :cheers:

 

Thanks everyone! Bushings are SHOT, just like every other one on the car. :)

I'll wait for help, for now I'll just clean up all the bolts and soak them with wd-40 or something. This couple hour job is taking weeks because the bolts won't come off. :(

Well, again, thanks a bunch everyone! :cheers:

 

If you would like to borrow any of my 6 point half inch drive sockets or tools you can just call me. I've had to put a pipe on 1/2 inch breaker bars to get old nuts off. Just always use 6 point tools. That way you never round off the nuts.

If you really read what Clutch Dust said. He is correct and it's obvious that he must have done it in the recent past :seeya

 

Thank's a lot. I have just been using impact sockets and a breaker bar, but not a lot of room to work. Going to get the trailing arms off today before I drop the diff. (Depending on if I go out to the moonrocks or not.) I'm also gonna go searching for a new frame. This isn't going to be a fun search, heh.