RING GEAR

[riverman]

could sombody tell me the size of my ring gear in my 97 TAHOE 2w/d with posi.I need to replace the pinion seal,but NAPA wants the size of the gear,thanks

[Frank S]

It should be an 8.5"

[concours]

8.5" is correct for the Tahoe. Also referred to as the "ten bolt" , number of bolts on the pan. The 9.5" (easily identified by the 14 pan bolts) is a semi floating flanged axle design diff used in 3/4 ton trucks, and some heavy half ton trucks. Your Napa guy should know all this. Be careful putting in that pinion seal, you have pinion bearing preload set by a "crush sleeve". This is disturbed when you remove the nut. It's very difficult to accurately reset the preload, it's normally done before the carrier and ring gear is in. Don't mean to scare ya', but get the service manual and do it right... or do bearings in a couple months.