Rear Axle Ominous Grinding

So just like the title says, my '63 tux-in-a-barn has an ominous grinding when I turn the back wheels. I was pretty sure it was bearings and the diff, but someone I know suggested it might be the brake drums.

Is there any real way to diagnose whether the grinding is coming from the drums or the diff without taking either one apart? I can't exactly disassemble anything right now because I'm at home and the jeep is in the barn a fair distance away, but I'd like to be able to know where to start when I go up there next.

Are there any "usual culprits" in either area that might need repair, or given that its been sitting for at least twenty years, should I just skip right to doing a complete overhaul?

 

Might be rust or dirt in the drums, or possibly a loose part. If you jack up the rear end, and turn one wheel at a time, you should be able to determine where the noise is. The 'feel' of it would be a clue too. The drag or grittiness of a brake may feel quite different from the clicking or clunking of a damaged bearing.

I'm betting on the brakes. Backing off the brake adjusters (then pulling and releasing the parking brake) might reduce the noise, if so. May just need to be driven.

 

I'll see about that. I sorta remember it feeling a little gravelly on the driver's side. I've had it on stands for about a month now.

Odd thing- when I turn the driver's side wheel one way, the passenger's side one rotates the opposite direction. I can turn both the same way, but it requires me to grab both at a time. Is that at all normal?

Parking brake isn't hooked up right now, and I'll probably be (temporarily) removing it when I get the driveshafts down. I'd wanted to do it last month, but I ended up getting involved with other things.

Either way, the whole e-brake assembly is going to get an overhaul once I get it dismounted, after I get the axles and main brakes dealt with.

 

Yep that wheel rotation in opposite directions is normal. At least you don't have a broken axle. Also note you have a grease fitting in the housing close to the backing plate each side and there should be a small weep hole on top to squirt out excess grease when you grease that wheel bearing.

 

Woot, yay for unbroken axles.

So that's what that yucky- looking thing was under all that caked grease and dirt. I'll have to see about finding and refilling one of the grease guns, if I can get one that isn't totally filthy.

Edit: What weight of grease should I use in it?