I think the fix for it, is looking at the outer bearing sleeve, bearing, and the axle shaft itself for wear. Replacing anything that is bad.
Should I look at anything else?
Have the babbitt thrust washers been replaced with bronze ones? If the axle shaft is worn enough to be replaced you'll have to open up the rear end to do it, so you might as well get the axle book and check the inner bearings, thrust washers, and all the other internal parts that could be worn. In the book Glen gives you all the numbers for measuring the parts.
Andrew,
I am a half step ahead of you.
A few weeks back I disassembled a axle I acquired. I built up the confidence to work on the axle on my car.
Here is some discussion on what I found:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/298520.html?1341734269
Here is what I learned:
Outside bearings: It is easy to look at the outside bearings and sleeves- just remove wheel with puller. And then you can remove bearing (I used old wire hanger). The bearings cages should be tight. The wear on the sleeve will likely be on the top. You can feel it by moving your finger from inside to outside the tube. Be careful as it might be sharp step and cut you...
Axle assembly removal. I found that it was not a big task to remove the rear axle, but I was not comfortable in the safety of my jack setup. After I removed it dawned on me that it would be safer to just us an engine host with a sling around the frame under the rear floor boards. For me the host ended up running into the car spare tire. I see your car is nice than mine so make sure everything has the correct clearances. There are other setups, but before you start figure out a safe way to hold the car up and remove the rear axle assembly!
Rear axle disassembly: Nothing was hard here. I have the book on order and imagine it gives all the details.
Parts add up! I started figuring I should dissemble everything mainly to change the thrust washers that get blamed for everything (once I heard even someone's divorce!) The book, sleeve puller, thrust washers, seals, gaskets already brought me to $100. Add to that over $100 for Fun Projects pinion bearing... Need to replace ring gear. Things are adding up quickly.
Overall I am glad I took the car off the streets because I found there was almost no grease in the outer bearings and the inside grease looked like it was only motor oil!
Be safe and enjoy!
A simple and safe support for rear axle removal is a six foot piece of 2" heavy square tubing.
After the first picture I added some braces to the stands to make them a little more solid.
Steve how did you hold the car up without crushing the muffler?
The support goes behind the muffler.