And some close ups of the Retainers, Skid Control Rotor, and Bearing.

Still dirty, and full of gear oil…



All cleaned up…



You can check for play in your bearings by grasping the backing plate like I am in the picture below and moving it up and down. If there is play in your bearings you will feel the backing plate move up and down slightly. You can also spin the backing plate to see if the bearing operates smoothly.



And here’s what you’ll see once you have the axle removed. In this photo you can see the axle flange, the o-ring, the inner rear axle seal, and the ABS sensor (the black thing poking out on the right hand side).



Another angle:



Now remove the old O-Ring:



I took this opportunity to remove the ABS sensor, which makes placing the new axle seal a bit easier. It is held on by one 10mm bolt. Once you’ve removed the bolt, you’ll notice there is a gap between the mounting surface of the sensor and the axle housing. You can put a flathead screwdriver in that gap and pry the ABS sensor out of the axle housing. In this photo, you can see the hole where the ABS sensor resides:



Note: When you re-install the ABS sensor, the torque value for the bolt that holds it onto the axle housing is 71 in./lbs (inch pounds, not foot pounds).