I’ve read as much as I can and have a question about axle removal. I am not replacing axles only the diff.do I drive out axle from hub and then from diff? How hard are axles to reinstall. Again do I first put axles into diff and then hub? Any tricks to getting back into hub?

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95 e320,87 sdl,79 300sd

There are two types of axles. Do your axles bolt to a flange or do they go directly into the diff housing?

The kind that bolt to flange should??? allow the diff to come out with the axles left in place, the kind sans a flange that go directly into the diff will have to be removed first.

How difficult? Not overly technical but the non-flange axles can put up a fight, there isn't a lot of room to finesse them out and back in.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

I just replaced my differential a few months ago, so I have some tips:

-go ahead and remove the entire axle before you drop the diff. I found it easier to go from the hub first, but with very careful use of a pry bar.
-a helper would be great. I had none and wish I did.
-you’ll need something to help you support the weight of the diff. A floor jack, transmission jack, etc. it’s a heavy unit.
-to answer your question, getting the axles back in isn’t too bad. Finagling them into place is the tricky part, but they should slide into their spots fairly easily.
-be sure to re-use the axle shims.
-a flex 19mm ratcheting wrench will save you a lot of time on the nuts that bolt the diff to the car body.
-consider replacing the diff mount if yours is old.

Good luck!

Did you need to loosen drive shaft mount to get flex disc off from diff?

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95 e320,87 sdl,79 300sd

Yes, the Service Manual says to loosen clamping nut and the drive shaft center bearing from the body and slide the shaft forward. When I swapped differentials in my 240D last year, I did the "while you are in there" and dropped the whole assembly replaced the rubber bushings, had CVJ do the axles, and replaced the flex discs and center bearing. If the car is a keeper, it's worth considering.

If you loosen the drive shaft from the differential you need to be sure you don't tear up the rubber on the drive shaft support. If you do you will also be replacing that.

To get the axles out of the differential you need make sure you can loosen the differential fill plug. It is easier to do that with the differential installed because they are often hard to remove.
Next drain out the differential oil.
To get the rear axles out of the differential you need to remove the rear cover plate and go inside and remove one 'C' type clip from the axle stub shaft per axle inside of the differential. After that the axle will slide out.

As the axle slides out there may or may not be a steel spacer/washer between the differential and the axle. you need to save that and keep it together with the differential. The speckers adjust the allowable play in the 'C' clips.

You also have a very real need to read the threads on what other have done to do the job.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Mark 123 X2 if the car is a long term keeper and you are in a position to pull the rear subframe consider doing a major refresh of the components.

No matter what your intentions are, match mark the two halves of the driveshaft. If you don't the driveshaft somehow "senses" that it hasn't been match marked and will automatically separate...definitely a bug, not a feature.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer