Replacing Dana 60 wheel bearings

[dstryr]

I'm getting a wicked vibration around 50-60mph that does somewhat go away at lower and higher speeds.  I'm going to pull the driveshaft and check the ujoint, though they only have a few thousand miles on them.  I haven't repacked the rear wheel bearings and can't say if they've ever been looked at before I bought the car in '02.   

I see the Dr Diff kits from the other thread, but what do I need to know before I jump into this?  Brake lines come off the wheel cylinder? Does the axle comes out to replace the inner seal and bearing?  I have feeler gauges and a few wrenches ...what else do I need to know?  There isn't squat online for best practices on a muscle car era dana 60.

[ws23rt]

IMO a vibration as you describe --- that diminishes above and below a particular speed sounds like a balance or slop issue in the drive shaft/u joints.
I've had several rear bearing failures. One of the symptoms is a subtle growl or hum that changes with mph speed. Another symptom I had with a different car was a ruff and also subtle growl coming from the back only when turning at low speed (such as turning a corner at an intersection).--An axial load--

When a wheel bearing is giving it's notice (especially at constant speed) it will likely be generating extra heat. Pull over and reach around to feel the area where the bearing is. It should be the same as the rest of the axial tube and be the same on both sides.

I went through this on a late night trip home with 180 miles to go in my 70 charger.---I heard a new kinda  deep sound from the back.  The drivers side rear bearing area was very hot.  ---This is not good but I'm in the middle of nowhere and the car still moves. At reduced speed I stopped every ten miles or so and checked the axial housing temp with my temp checker.(my hand). It was lower but still hot.

The rest of my story is I made it home and the next day I pulled the axial.  The bearing was dry. It apparently created enough heat to expand the (press fit) inner race and the inner race spun on the axle shaft creating enough heat to weld itself to the shaft. The bearing then (apparently) began rolling again on the dry rusty rollers.

So in the case of my story I needed another axle shaft as well as the bearing, seals. gaskets, Etc.

So back to the topic and question. The FSM recommends replacing the inner seal and gaskets whenever the axial is pulled. If the bearings look and feel smooth and the grease is still fluid I would say they are good to go with a good cleaning and repac.

As for the old stock Dana being a part of the question.---Their are thrust buttons at the ends of the axel shafts. If they come out with the shafts it could be rather difficult to get them back in. (a real PIA).--  I've done it a couple of times without disassembly of the diff.--with luck.