I did a 7 1/4 to 8 3/4 by my self.
- Raise rear of vehicle till rear axle is at full droop
- Support the car body with jack stands just in front of the front spring mount.
- Place a jack under the center of the 7 1/4 and pump just enough to give it some support.
- Remove the lower shock mount nuts and pull the shocks off the studs
- Remove the tires
- Remove the rear drive shaft yoke bolts and push the drive shaft into the trans enough to get the rear u joint out of the yoke. Put some tape around the u joint caps to keep them from falling off.
- If you are going to fully remove the brake hardware and reuse it. Then carefully remove all the hardware, brake lines etc.
- Remove the parking brake cables, a small hose clamp put around the fingers on the inside of the backing plate makes the job super easy.
- You can do it as mentioned above by pulling the axles and unbolting all the parts and supporting them from the body.
- Remove the u bolts and lower the jack supporting the rear end.
- The rear is heavy but use physics to your advantage.
I stall in the reverse order.
Get a Factory Service Manual (
mymopar.com) for torque specs.
I was able to get all but one u bolt off. The last one I had to cut. So plan ahead and buy replacements.
GO SLOW ON THE NUTS. They are a locking type and take more for e to remove than a standard nut, plus 50+ years of rust.
Check the temp of the nuts if they get hot stop and let them cool or they can weld to the bolts.
If you can wire brush the u bolt threads ahead of time.