I am in need of advice on removal of my rear axles. removed differential cover and removed bolt holding pin in place. the axles were in position where the c clips were upside down and both fell out. my question is: can I leave everything as it is and when I replace my axle bearings and seals, can I then put the c clips back in from the top? or do I need to rotate the axles 180 degree first. I am paranoid about getting the spider gears misaligned at this point and the clips won't stay in place if I try and install by going up on the axles. thank you.

 

The clips can go in any orientation. They can even be inserted from the bottom like they fell out if you have someone pull on the axle to get the clip inside the area it stays. Then it won't fall out when you install the shaft and bolt.

I ended up buying 3 tools from Harbor Freight when I replaced my axle and bearings/seals.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...bearing+puller
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...-pc-60327.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piec...set-95853.html

Then I like to buy tools!

 

Spider gears misaligned and fall out. You can put them back in but what a pain it would be. Don't rotate w/o axles installed! put the c-clips on ,push axles outward to hold clips in place. reinstall pin.