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rear end work

V

vortecguy

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Location
Minnesota
Hey Im new here and looking for help. I got a 96 GMC suburban 1500 that is not only my work truck but the family travel truck. Now she has 246k on the dash the original motor and tranny but 2nd rear end. Dont have the money for another used 1 plus labor. This 1 pinion bearing are threw. The shaft is loose at the rear and leaking. Anything you can tell me like how to replace it, the steps, a how to would be greatly appreciated..
 
What rear end is it? 10 bolt, 14 bolt semi floater, 14 bolt full floater? Chances are if the pinion bearings are bad, it did some damage to the ring and pinion as well.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
What rear end is it? 10 bolt, 14 bolt semi floater, 14 bolt full floater? Chances are if the pinion bearings are bad, it did some damage to the ring and pinion as well.
Click to expand...
10
THEFERMANATOR said:
What rear end is it? 10 bolt, 14 bolt semi floater, 14 bolt full floater? Chances are if the pinion bearings are bad, it did some damage to the ring and pinion as well.
Click to expand...
 
Do you have tools like a torque wrench and dial indicators for checking gear play? If not then you will need them to rebuild it. You have to pull the diff cover, remove the differential cross bolt, remove the axle c clips, slide the axles out, reinstall the cross bolt, remove the carrier, then remove the pinion. Then you can go in and press off the old bearings, drive out the old races, install the new races, and bearings. Install the pinion without a crush sleeve to start with and loosely snugging the pinion nut up just eneough to take the bearing play out, install the carrier, set your backlash, and then run a print on your gears to verify pinion depth. If the print is good, then you remove the carrier, remove the pinion, then install the crush sleeve, install the pinion, and tighten it down to crush the crush sleeve until you obtain your 20-30 inch pounds of rotational force required to turn the pinion. Install the carrier and set your backlash to .008 or so, and set your preload on the carrier, and then finish it up by putting the axles and such back in it. If your not familiar with rebuilding diffs, then you should know it is not an easy job, and it is more or less an artform to rebuilding them and keeping them from howling.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
Do you have tools like a torque wrench and dial indicators for checking gear play? If not then you will need them to rebuild it. You have to pull the diff cover, remove the differential cross bolt, remove the axle c clips, slide the axles out, reinstall the cross bolt, remove the carrier, then remove the pinion. Then you can go in and press off the old bearings, drive out the old races, install the new races, and bearings. Install the pinion without a crush sleeve to start with and loosely snugging the pinion nut up just eneough to take the bearing play out, install the carrier, set your backlash, and then run a print on your gears to verify pinion depth. If the print is good, then you remove the carrier, remove the pinion, then install the crush sleeve, install the pinion, and tighten it down to crush the crush sleeve until you obtain your 20-30 inch pounds of rotational force required to turn the pinion. Install the carrier and set your backlash to .008 or so, and set your preload on the carrier, and then finish it up by putting the axles and such back in it. If your not familiar with rebuilding diffs, then you should know it is not an easy job, and it is more or less an artform to rebuilding them and keeping them from howling.
Click to expand...
Wow.. That's alot to take in but now I don't have dial indicator nor know how to run a print on your gears so how bad can I screw something up with out them?
 
I've seen them weld the ring and pinion together because gthey didn't get the pattern right. There are some tools you MUST have to do a rear end(unless you've done enough of them to have a feel for them), and if you don't have the tools or the know how to do it without, you will never get it right. Setting up differentials is alot harder than most think it is. Some get lucky doing it, but like I said, I have seen some weld the gears togther, grind the teeth off, or spin bearings because they set the toelrances up wrong and ruined the whole diff housing.
 
So this what happened i went on and broke it down took the axle, gears, and pinion out and everything looked good. The bearings was in good shape the teeth on the gears also. Its like the front bearing had moved and made the pinion loose. So I clean everything put the pinion back and pounded the bearing back on the front til it was tight but turned smooth and didnt move up & down. I started put everything els back but i run into a problem
 
"I've seen them weld the ring and pinion together because they didn't get the pattern right."

This happens at 65 MPH and if you are lucky you only crash test the Jersey barrier - if you are not you get a head on with a 18 wheeler. SPLAT!

Rent some experience to do this right or park it till you can. Otherwise swap the entire rear end for a known good junkyard unit. Your life and your passenger's lives depend on it. Nevermind the poor ba$tard your locked up rear end Suburban hits.
 
Not something to play with and learn on. Blow up an engine is not dangerous. Transmission rebuilt wrong is just tow it home. War wagon is not exaggerating.junkyard if you can not afford a rebuild at a rearend shop for $600 to get you another 200,000 miles.
 
Ive been told todo another rearend the 1 on the truck now was put on less then 2yrs ago when the gear teeth in the differential started clunking loud. This is different after I put every thing back together and test drove it she was fine for about two block til I 20150630_174914~2~2.jpg came to a stop and the problem was back. The leaking and the loose play from the yoke the outer bearing want stay still. Why is this and can the pinion or the bearings or both be replaced to fix it..
 
I can tell you you messed up as soon as you said you took a hammer to it to put it back together. You NEVER use a hammer to install anything other than to drive in new bearing races. And setting up used gears and bearings is COMPLETELY different from setting up new. I'm not one to exaggerate, but messing up on setting up a diff can kill you and everybody around you when they lock up at 70 without warning. Theres a reason not many can rebuild a diff, it's because they aren't for everybody because of what all has to go into it. Your working with matched gears that are set up and lapped from the manufacturer to each other. If there is even slight intolerances in gear patterns, best case scenario they just eat each other away. Worst case they get hot and weld to each other locking up your rear end sending you into a spin, or even worse snap an axle shaft, having an axle fly out and hitting other cars around you and sending you into a spin you don't want to be in.

If you have bearing play, theres a reason why. Find the reason or find another diff. I can tell from looking at your pic I see some abnormal wear pattern on the pinion. It looks as though the pinion depth has been set to deep to start with. Also something just doesn't look right with the markings on the bearings to me. It's hard to tell from your pic, but theres some discoloration it appears to me on them. If so the MINIMUM that diff will need is new bearings, seals, pinion nut, and crush sleeve. You NEVER EVER re-use a crush sleeve EVER. This is the 1st rule of rebuilding diffs. 2nd don't re-use the pinion nut unless you paln on peening it and using blue loctite on the threads when you put it back together. 3rd, hammers are NOT used for re-assembly except for driving in new bearing races. If a bearing won't go in, then theres a problem, you stop, and find the problem. They make installers and press's for a reason here. Even the slightest of impact to a hardened bearing can micro fracture it and ruin it leading to bearing failure in short order. You NEED to step back and figure out whats wrong with it before you do soem serious damage to the diff, or even worse, those around you if you're driving it and it lets go.
 
I know your new to this forum, but 1 thing to understand is everyone here usually encourages newbies to rebuild an engine for the first time. Your heating negative feedback because we see you making big obvious mistakes going into this. Your results will not be good. Save money elsewhere in the truck on other repairs, we woild love to help you get the most from your truck. But doing what you're doing is like watching someone put honda spare donut tires on a one tone truck pulling a 3 axle trailer. Your going down a bad and dangerous path.
 
I'm not trying to be mean, but I have seen 1st hand what can happen from a simple mistake when working on rear ends, and it wasn't pretty. I've seen mudtrucks rolled because the diff locked up from a home rebuild job not setup properly because they said it's just a mud truck, I can do it myself. Setting up diffs is an art form, and many cannot do it. Without some basic tools, or having rebuilt a few dozen to have a feel for them, trying to rebuild one can not only be a bad idea, but dangerous to other cars around you.
 
Just to ad I bet you can find a good axle on Craig's list or junkyard for $150 or less,
 
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