Rear end to '88 Commanche

[theFREAKnasty82]

Hey guys,

I was working on my buddy's truck today; he has an '88 Jeep Commance 2WD. He blew out his rear end by running the sucker dry and now I'm trying to replace it for him. I tried to go to a junkyard to find one but ironically, a rear end for an '88 Commance is hard to come by in the Orlando, FL area. Anyway, I was wondering if there were any serious Jeep buffs out there who have rebuilt rear ends, how do you pull out the axles on this particular jeep? I'm used to on most other rear ends, just removing a C-clip and that takes the axles out. What I'm being told by a buddy of mine that works at a tranny shop that Jeeps prior to 89 or so used a different setup for the axles. Making a long story short, does anyone know how to pull out the axles? It's again a 1988 Jeep Commance 4.0 I-6, T-5 manual tranny. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[xj31]

the axles are held in by the axle bearings that are pressed on.when you take the brake drums off,you will see 4 nuts by the axle that hold the retainer and brake backing plate onto the axle housing.you have to take those off and the axle is still kind of hard to pull out.the recommended way is to use a slide hammer to pull the shaft but I have seen people put the brake drum on backwards and hammer the drum to use it as a puller.I don't really recommend that.by the way,I think a rear end for a commanche would be hard to come by anywhere

[MagicRat]

Just a quick comment here. Most Jeepers (and performance car enthusiasts) consider the non-c clip rear ends to be superior to the c-clip type.
I find they are actually easier to work on.
Gear sets, differentials and inner bearings should be the same as any pre-89 Cherokee, so rebuilding the existing center section should be a snap, since parts are easy to come by.
The outer axle bearings use grease and should be unaffected by its running dry.

[xj31]

You are absolutely right,the c-clip axles are way inferior,especially if you put bigger tires on the jeep.You are almost guaranteed to snap a shaft if its got c-clips

[theFREAKnasty82]

Thanks for the tips guys, I really appreciate that. I'll give it a shot later on today. Do you know where I could come across a slide hammer? I called my local auto parts store and the kid sounded like he had no idea what I was talking about. Is it a specialty tool that I'll have to see a MAC tools or MATCO tools guy to get this tool?