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Axle Shaft Job Turned Into Diff Coming Out...

goulet20

By goulet20
in Ask A GM Technician

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goulet20 Enthusiast

goulet20

Posted
Posted

Here is my problem if even a problem... I was taking off my rear axle shafts on my 96 gmc 2500 sierra. I unbolted the 4 large bolts attached to a c clamp type thing, took the cylinder that goes through it out than I took the clips off the diff attached to the axle shaft, . I pulled the first axle shaft out came out really nice, I was going to pull out the second and I noticed the diff was moving incredibly so I threw a few bolts on the cover on the diff because it looked like it would fall out. Now I get both axle shafts out, and then I open my diff cover to find the diff not attached to anything I pulled it out covered it in oil set it on a mat (don't want it to rust).... Is it gonna be tricky to put back in? Do I need to set it up in some way or can I just throw it all back in, basically reverse everything I did? I am not very mechanically inclined but I can usually figure stuff out... this though I don't wanna mess up...

grose67 Enthusiast

grose67

Posted
Posted

Boy did you ever screw up! Call a tow truck and sell all tools to pay the mechanic bill. Seriously, this is not something anyone on here will reccomend you try to fix on your own. There are way too many variables.

goulet20 Enthusiast

goulet20

Posted
  • Author
Posted

are you being serious omg...... honestly how can it be that bad i took out 5 bolts wtf... i did nothing to change the diff...the cylinder thing being the part i have to take out to remove the axle shaft i never removed stuff i did not need to other than taking the diff out.... blacklash and all tell me what you know I have 3 vehicles I am not paying out the wazoo for something I can learn I am a fast learner...

LeoS41280 Enthusiast

LeoS41280

Posted
Posted

Are you trying to change the gear set? If so, better let someone do it that knows what is goin on.

goulet20 Enthusiast

goulet20

Posted
  • Author
Posted

no no but he explains procedure to putting diff in... all i am asking is do i really need to pay bones to put the diff in when i did not change anything on the diff itself its still the same way it was in there minus the c clamps holding it in. gonna take the day off tommorow and give it a shot either way will let ya know how it goes

Nytemare Senior Enthusiast

Nytemare

Posted
Posted
no no but he explains procedure to putting diff in... all i am asking is do i really need to pay bones to put the diff in when i did not change anything on the diff itself its still the same way it was in there minus the c clamps holding it in. gonna take the day off tommorow and give it a shot either way will let ya know how it goes

If you don't have tools to set up the diff, you will never know if its right or not until bad things happen man.

How the hell did your diff just fall out? Did you unbolt the bearing caps?

 

Your supposed to remove the c clips inside the housing...not the big metal caps with the 2 bolts holding it in...actually, I believe the c-clips were eliminated back in the late 80's or early 90's in 14 bolt rear ends.

goulet20 Enthusiast

goulet20

Posted
  • Author
Posted

yes i took out the bearing caps by mistake.... it did not fall out i carried it out and placed in, I never changed anything on the diff thats why I don't understand why it could be so hard to put back in any info would be appreciated thanks.

s10driver85 Enthusiast

s10driver85

Posted
Posted

Is this a Joke??? If you are not mechanicly inclined why the hell did you pull an axle? its not an oil change. take it to a shop explain to them that your not the sharpest tool in the garage and hope they dont screw you. as for you question its difficult take it to a profesional

Dooner Enthusiast

Dooner

Posted
Posted

Messing around with diffs is no joke. I'd leave it to the pro's if I were you. Chalk it up to a mistake. If you are gonna try & reassemble, hope you get it right...otherwise bye-bye rear-end. :P

Nytemare Senior Enthusiast

Nytemare

Posted
Posted

As long as you have a good manual and did not change anything...and I mean anything, including the position of the pinion, the crush sleeve any spacers or bearings you can just plop it back in. You need to put the shimms in back in they're proper place, order and orientation as they have worn now and have a certain pattern. To be safe you need to check the backlash of the gear set and a rotating resistance test.

 

For this you will need a special paint to check if the gears are meshing properly and a dial gauge inch-lb torque wrench with a needle that sets at the highest torque achieved.

 

For someone who hasn't done this before be prepared to spend a whole bunch of time under the truck and with your nose in a book. Again...you may get lucky, plop it in and all the stars align and you are golden....if that happens though, you should probably buy a lotto ticket.

 

Remember...its about 200-300 bucks for a good drive line shop to do this for you...a used rear diff is 1500 bones if you F**k this one up

gmtech4 Senior Enthusiast

gmtech4

Posted
Posted

i think all that happened is the pumpkin fell out ,its shimed and set up already ,the pinion is not touched and rotating force check is not required,no backlash needs to be checked ,its all be done before ,just slam it back in,torque the cap bolts ,make dam sure the shims are in the right place ,if not ,package it all up in a box and tow the mother to a shop

 

my 2 cents

Nytemare Senior Enthusiast

Nytemare

Posted
Posted
i think all that happened is the pumpkin fell out ,its shimed and set up already ,the pinion is not touched and rotating force check is not required,no backlash needs to be checked ,its all be done before ,just slam it back in,torque the cap bolts ,make dam sure the shims are in the right place ,if not ,package it all up in a box and tow the mother to a shop

 

my 2 cents

yeah, that's what I'm saying about the rotating force test and backlash...if you screw up the shims, those 2 tests will tell you right away, and you wont have to grenade a diff to figure out it was put together wrong.

goulet20 Enthusiast

goulet20

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I did not notice any shims you guys are speaking of, i found the spacer, i checked backlash but not the other torque specification, and also did the paint pattern. Either way i put it in the same way i took it out, took her for a test spin, everything is working in order as it was before.

 

Although before I did all this I was changing my bearing due to a mysterious noise coming from the back only when turning right, I changed both my bearings and seals and it is still occuring... which tells me 1 of two things

1. my tires are loud turning that way......

2. my diff needs to be reset or rebuilt

 

Now I have a car which I am using now, I am going to indeed bring it into the shop, now I suspect largely there was something wrong with the diff previously, when I opened the case I did notice a bit of metal.... I mean 190 000 kms its time to get her rebuilt imo for more miles anyways.

 

Any experiences for you guys getting them rebuilt? How much did it cost you, and I found a very very detailed guide on all of this here is the web page.. http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_catalog/ri...structions.html

 

Thinking of doing it this summer and changing the parts out and getting the kits from differential.com, completeoffroad.com, or drivetrain.com, like I said summer project I got all the time in the world.

700 sportsman Senior Enthusiast

700 sportsman

Posted
Posted

Well I plan on installing a diff. and I plan on doing all the work myself. I plan on checking the backlash and adjusting as needed with the adjusters, and rechecking the backlash and also checking the gear pattern. So if you have all the correct info and a dial indicator it isn't too bad of a job as long as you aren't installing new gears, especially a pinion

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