I finished replacing the bearings on my '82 GSL. Thanks for the information and suggestions. I had 195K miles on the bearings, but I also drove them with a roar for about a year.

Here is what I would suggest to someone that is considering this:
A: Get/Borrow a slide hammer. I used it to put the axles back in as well as to pull them. Makes the job much easier.
B: Get the bearing retainer collars also. I went ahead and bought the spacers as well. And replace the axle seals. I put the new ones in the freezer for a while to make them a little easier to install.
C: Take the axles to a shop to replace the bearings. I did not try to do it myself, I took it to a shop. They charged $25/axle, for $50 total. The fellow doing the work got cut on the leg while removing one of my old bearings. The bearing exploded.
D: I had to disconnect the brake lines in order to remove the backing plate. Plan to bleed the brakes. My daughter is old enough to help with that, so it was not a problem.
E. Go ahead and change the fuel filter while you have the car on jack stands. I did that.

The passenger side emergency brake cable was "froze up". I spent more time removing, freeing, lubing, and replacing that than I did on the axles.

Hope this helps someone. Again, thanks for the suggestions.

 

Very good write up, I personally never had to use a slide hammer but none of the cars I had to work on were rusty either.

I agree, have a shop do the bearing removal and installation, unless you do it a lot, its not work the tools cost to do it yourself.

I installed speed bleeders on my brake calipers so I do not have to bother another sole when I bleed my brakes.

John