Actually I took apart the rear brakes a couple weekends ago. Once I got the drum off I discovered one of the shoes had its nail broken off and the shoe wasn't even sitting on the master cylinder (so basically it was just floating around there, not even contributing to the braking). I had bought new drums, new shoes, new springs... and turns out I didn't even need the drums or the shoes just the springs, a couple cans of brake cleaner, and some elbow grease.

As for the axle bearings and seals... good idea. Is there any way I could diagnose whether new bearings are required or not? Motive Gear has this part# KIT 6408 - these look like the right ones, right?

 

If they aren't being noisy, then only way to tell if they are bad, is to actually look. (which involves tearing down the diff.) If you are already there, might just as well replace them. Don't recall if the bearings are pressed into the housing, or onto the axles though.....