just bought a 97 grand cherokee tsi. im trying to replace the outside pinion bearing. was told the carrier needs to come out. is this true? if so how is it done? haynes manuals suck and doing me no good. so any detailed tips would be greatly appreciated. the mate shaft wont come out due to busted bolt inside. im drilling that out now. but what do i do next?
mike

You wil have to remove the wheels and brakes/rotors. The once you get the pin out of the rear end, you will need to push in on the axleshafts and pull the "C" clips (if equipped). Then slide the axleshaft out so the clear the differential assembly. Remove the bolts for the side bearing caps, becareful when you pull the differential assembly out you may have shims located between the bearings and the Differential housing you will won't to keep these together this sets the backlash of the gears. The. Remove the driveshaft from the rear yoke, and remote the yoke from the pinion shaft. Then you will be able to use a hammer (prefferably a deadblow hammer) to tap the pinion shaft (gear) out of the differential housing. Now you will be able to remove the bearings from the housing and using a brass punch you can tap the race out of the differential housing. You should rebuild the entire axle.

if id tag is gone how do i know which bearing to get? 1997 grand cherokee tsi w/ 5.2 l 4wd

your rear will be stamped either 35c or 44, on one of the corner ears.