dif swap need some help in a hurry!

[gokepsgo]

Hey guys, yesterday I decided to finally replace the dif out of my eta to a 3.25lsd. So far I've unbolted the drive shaft and the axles "flanges?". Anywho I'm having a ton of trouble getting the mounting bolts off due to clearance issues and a lack of lube. And on top of that I have no idea how I'm gonna squeeze a socket and torque wrench on to the bolts on top when I put it back together. Is there anything I should be doing that will make this easier? Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

[///Mayhew]

a wrench works on top, and crows foot wrenches for the torque wrench

[e30trooper]

Hey guys, yesterday I decided to finally replace the dif out of my eta to a 3.25lsd. So far I've unbolted the drive shaft and the axles "flanges?". Anywho I'm having a ton of trouble getting the mounting bolts off due to clearance issues and a lack of lube. And on top of that I have no idea how I'm gonna squeeze a socket and torque wrench on to the bolts on top when I put it back together. Is there anything I should be doing that will make this easier? Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

take tires off, use breaker bar to loosen the 4 tops bolts up. un do half shaft (axles)

this is a pretty easy job, GL

[blueapplesoda]

use two box wrenches to get leverage on the bolts up top, curved box wrenches would work too. Then use a bottle jack and jack up slightly to relieve the topside of the diff so bolts can come out easier.

[gokepsgo]

Thanks guys. So what you're saying is pretty much get creative. I was hoping this would be a lot less of a pita before I started into this mess hah. It also sucks when you start and find out you don't own a single 17mm wrench and all the auto shops are out of commission because some ass had to knock out a telephone pole. The easy bolts should be no problem. Is there another way to get the top bolts off and torqued back without this "crows foot"?
Don't have a lot of money and I'm sure they're not cheap.=(

[Julien]

don't worry about torque spec, just get it nice and tight with a 17mm wrench. I recommend a 17mm speedwrench to make the job 1000x easier. you can also remove the rear diff bolt and give yourself more room to work with.

Julien

[Dude]

You gotta get creative, its a simple job but its not that easy. I ended up cutting a 17mm open end wrench in half so i could get a breaker bar on it. Ratchet would be a good investment for this, ill def have them if I ever have to do it again.