07 yukon denalia passenger axle shaft seal ugghhhhh

[NateDiggity]

I am in the process (couple minutes each night after work) to drop and replace my wife's oil pan gasket on her 07 denali. While I am in there and have half of the front axle drooping to replace the pan I am wanting to fix her other leak, a passenger side axle shaft seal. I have never done one of these, or know much about the front IFS in general. I am wondering if this video is applicable to my vehicle. They specifically say up to 06 but was hoping it would work for the 07 as it seems to be fairly straight forward

 

 

 

I am having trouble finding much about the passenger side seal, and even less about the 07+'s

 

Is that all it takes to get it out? My only concern is the "bracket" they take off in the video, I cant quite see where its at so I will have to climb under and figure that out. Other than that though, it looks really straight forward...

 

It looks the same as my wife's from what I can recall (at work now) and I am wanting to replace the front fluid anyway while I have the truck down to fix other nuisances.

 

 

 

Update:

 

so I bought a haynes and it told me the same thing that video did...

 

But I have it all unbolted, and have hit the flange with a dead blow as much as I am willing to and it will split about a 1/4" at the diff but it will not come any further than that.....

 

Comon, sooommeeeone has had to have done this...

[Jsdirt]

I should've done this 5 years ago, but I was so disgusted with the truck that I just left it.

 

It continues to leak at 86k miles.

 

Seal should just pry out like a normal seal, and then you drive in the new. Of course we all know how GM loves to reinvent the wheel when it comes to this stuff (presumably an attempt to stop DIY repairs), so who knows now.

 

I re-read your post, and it sounds like your having trouble getting the CV axle out of the diff? Yeah, those can be a bitch. Best way is with a slide hammer. Without one it can be a real bear. I've had luck in the past grabbing the axle itself and losing my temper. The inner CV will telescope, so it can be used as a slide hammer itself. I've done this on axles half the size of these on ATVs, and only once did the joint come apart. Doubt you could separate a truck one, but then again, this is the 21st century, so anything is possible ...

 

Not a big deal if you do, so long as everything stays clean. Would probably need new bands for the CV boot in that case, unless you can reuse the old ones by tweaking them.

[NateDiggity]

What I am having issues with is the axle tube And shaft separating from the diff. I have it all unbolted and the tube itself has a bit of a gap at the diff .25" but won't release, its just hanging there at those point. I assume there is a ring or clip that needs to compress to get it out... i have tried hitting the back of flange @ end of axle stub (where it bolts to CV axle) with two good size dead blows (one on either side) to try to get it to pop out with kind of equal pressure (do t have a slide hammer) with zero luck....

[Jsdirt]

Might be held in the diff by a C-clip - not sure there.

[tbarn]

Trying to replace #2?

 

axle.pdf

axle.pdf

axle.pdf

axle.pdf

[NateDiggity]

Yea, trying to replace it, but can't get the splined end on #1 (the shaft) to separate at the diff. The tube itself (#4) is unbolted from the diff and separated 1/4"-1/2"

 

Is there something on the 07 "nnbs" Yukon's (8.25) that need separated or a clip that needs taken off because I don't see one. Unless it's in the diff itself, if so, I'm not gonna bother with replacing the seal and will just top off fluid for now.

[Jsdirt]

#8 looks like a C-clip to me. Real easy to remove (provided there's enough room) once the cover is off.

[NateDiggity]

That kind of what I thought, but I can't seem to get to it without dropping diff and splitting. I feel like I'm doing this wrong, was hoping to find someone who has done it on this year with aad but no such luck.

 

I'm about to just bolt it back up and run it and just top off every oil change or as necessary

[Jsdirt]

That's what I've been doing. They don't make these things easy, that's for sure. I have no desire to crawl under this thing to fix anything, since it's still new (at least to me).

 

I figured I'll tackle it when it breaks.

[tbarn]

I can't imagine what could be holding it in. Everything in the picture comes out as an assembly. Assuming it doesn't fall apart taking it out. No real connection between that assembly and the rest of the diff. #8 just slides on to a splined output shaft.

[Jsdirt]

I can't imagine what could be holding it in. Everything in the picture comes out as an assembly. Assuming it doesn't fall apart taking it out. No real connection between that assembly and the rest of the diff. #8 just slides on to a splined output shaft.

 

It looks like a C-clip, like RWD cars and trucks have had for decades. Pull the clip, then the axle (and entire tube) is free to slide right out.

[NateDiggity]

My only thing I can come up with it is it won't release because it's "dangling" and kind of jammed/crooked in there.

 

There doesn't seem to be anyway to get to the clip to release it.

 

The Haynes manual says to tap on back of it after unbolting with a brass punch and hammer, gonna try that and maybe spin the axle a bit trying to release it, if no luck, I give up lol

[j-ten-ner]

I can't imagine what could be holding it in. Everything in the picture comes out as an assembly. Assuming it doesn't fall apart taking it out. No real connection between that assembly and the rest of the diff. #8 just slides on to a splined output shaft.

 

^ this

 

#8 looks like a circlip.

When you pull at the shaft, it'll compress into the groove it is sitting in.

You just have to overcome the resistance.

 

so long

j-ten-ner

[NateDiggity]

That's my assumption also, just didn't want to cause damage by really beating the crap out of it.

[Jsdirt]

Ahh, so that means you've got to give it a good yank to get it out. Back to my slide hammer suggestion - will make life alot easier if you can beg, borrow, or steal one (don't steal one - just a figure of speech ).

 

My Polaris ATV had CV axles with a similar circlip (probably alot smaller), all rusted because it was external to the gear oil of the front differential, and not greased at the factory. I had to chain one side of the machine to my Silverado, then wrap a ratchet strap around the CV inner housing, and run a 6" long x 3/8" lag into a stud in my barn, with a giant washer I had off something long forgotten, and wrap the strap around that, & ratchet the thing out. Thought the strap was going to bust before it broke free! It came out violently - thought I broke the axle the way it sounded. One hell of a job that was! You can bet those splines got a healthy dose of Amsoil waterproof grease afterward. Comes out bare-handed now. Since I got Stick Stoppers, I shouldn't have to remove them 3x a year anymore.