Rear axle swap

[Jose Madrid]

I just bought a 2006 Chevy avalanche rear axle in hopes of swapping it into my 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 stepside am I able to use this axle In the truck or am I better off just stripping the new axel’s differential? 

[swathdiver]

33 minutes ago, Jose Madrid said:

I just bought a 2006 Chevy avalanche rear axle in hopes of swapping it into my 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 stepside am I able to use this axle In the truck or am I better off just stripping the new axel’s differential? 

Don't those Avalanches run a 5 link rear instead of leaf springs?  Do they both have the same covers, 10 or 14 bolts?

[Jose Madrid]

48 minutes ago, Jose Madrid said:

I just bought a 2006 Chevy avalanche rear axle in hopes of swapping it out of my 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 stepside am I able to use this axel In the truck or am I better off just stripping the new axel’s differential? 

yes unfortunately I had no idea it was a different rear suspension the internals are all the same gear wise. I should be able to gut the new axle and put it in my differential correct? 

[Mike GMC]

If you are going to pull your axle apart, just put new parts in it.  The used parts may work, but my guess is you will never get the gear mesh pattern right and it will whine and wear quickly.  I'd just re sell the Avalanche axle and buy the right parts for yours.

[davester]

For me, it depends on what he's swapping.  I would put in new bearing and seals, but the rest of the bits, like ring/pinion/carrier/axles should all be fine.    And if the Avalanche's diff didn't have a problem, there's no reason it can't be installed and setup just fine in the other axle, just like you'd do if you had to remove the carrier to replace the bearings and then reinstall it in the original axle.

[Mike GMC]

My experience with used gears is that they are all but impossible to set up to exactly match the pattern they had in the other housing.  This causes whine and excessive wear.  The manufacturing tolerances mean the housing vary a bit as do the carriers.  The old shims might get it close, but no likely exact.

 

Agreed, the axle shafts and carrier can be reused as long as it's the carrier he wants.  When I rebuild mine later this spring, I'm changing the carrier to a True Track unit since my G80 locker is broken.  My gears are worn a bit and will be replaced with new.  All bearings and seals will also be replaced as well the rusted e-brake backing plates.  It's weird, they are they only rusted out thing on the whole truck.

[davester]

sure, I wouldn't expect the setup to be exactly the same, they would need to be setup properly once installed in the new diff housing.

[Gagliano7]

Make sure they are the same ratio since you 4x4 your had to match your front.