Changing Front Differential Seals Ck1500 2001

Francis4344 · September 28, 2007

Can somenone point me in the right direction on this? (either an explanation or a link to anothe web site with instructions)...

Do I have to open the front differential in order to remove the shafts? Sure looks like it...

This is my daughter's truck. No mistake allowed...

Norseman · September 29, 2007

Not sure what you're looking for but maybe this will help.

Raise and safely support the vehicle.

Matchmark and disconnect the front driveshaft at the carrier.

Remove the wheels.

Dismount the calipers and wire them up, out of the way.

Place an inch pound torque wrench on the pinion nut. Measure the torque needed to rotate the pinion one full revolution. Record the measurement.

Matchmark the pinion flange, shaft and nut. Count and record the number of exposed threads on the pinion shaft.

Hold the flange and remove the nut and washer.

Using a puller, remove the flange.

Carefully pry the seal from its bore. Be careful to avoid scratching the seal bore.

Remove the deflector from the flange.

To Install:

Clean the seal bore thoroughly.

Remove any burrs from the deflector staking on the flange.

Tap the deflector onto the flange and stake it in three places.

Position the new seal in the carrier bore and drive it into place until flush. Coat the seal lips with wheel bearing grease.

Coat the outer edge of the flange neck with wheel bearing grease and slide it onto the pinion shaft.

Place a new washer and nut onto the pinion shaft and tighten it to the position originally recorded. That is, the alignment marks are aligned, and the recorded number of threads are exposed on the pinion shaft.

CAUTION

Never hammer the flange onto the pinion!

Measure the rotating torque of the pinion. Compare this to the original torque. Tighten the pinion nut, in small increments, until the rotating torque is 3 inch lbs. (0.35 Nm) GREATER than the original torque.

Install the driveshaft.

Install the calipers and install the wheels.

poorboy · October 1, 2007

Please verfiy which seals you are wanting to replace? Are you replacing the ....

1. Wheel bearing seals

2. Inner axle seals

3. Pinion seal

If you are replacing the inner axle seals...and I bet you are...you are in luck because I just did this myself this past Friday night.

poorboy · October 1, 2007

Well since I just did the front inner axle seals on my truck this weekend...I'll do a little write up of it in an attempt to help you out.

The front inner axle seals are notorius for leaking around 80-100,000 on these trucks. You'll see gear lube present behind the flange from the inner axle to the CV joint on both or either side. If you're doing one side, do both since you'll have the diff drained.

Here is what I did and how long it took

Parts needed.

(2) axle seals - GM part 15801507, about 14.00 list at the dealer.

(2) containers of Mobil One 75W90 gear lube.

(1) tube anerobic sealer - (not rtv)

Tools needed.

No specialized tools were needed.

1. Jack front end and remove wheels

2. Remove aluminum skid plate and plastic gaurd from front of truck.

3. Drain front differential

(let's do the passenger side first)

4. Remove cv flange bolts and disconnect CV flange from inner axle flange.

5. Remove the two bolts that hold the axle carrier to the frame.

6. Remove the 5 bolts that hold the axle carrier to the differetial housing.

7. Keeping the axle carrier tilted to the down toward the wheel slightly tap the housing away from the differential. Make sure to pay attention not to lose the large spring. There is nothing holding the axle carrier to the differential (don't be affraid at this point, nothing is going to come shooting out or break anything.

8. Once you have the axle and axle carrier out of the truck place it on a work bench and remove the shift fork, sping, and coupler gear.

9. Allign the washer with the two tabs into the casting recess and gentley tap on the axle flange to disengage the shaft from the carrier.

10. Once the axle is removed from the carrier, remove the seal with a large flat blade srew driver or prybar. It will be fairly easy to remove.

11. Clean the carrier and all parts.

12. Insert new seal and apply gear lube to the axle portion only.

13. With 000 steal wool clean or buff the axle shaft where it rides on the seal and bearing surface.

14. Reinstall all parts and assemble axle carrier and shaft. (simply tap axle back into carrier to engage the axle retaining clip.

15. Apply anerobic sealer to both differential case and axle carrier case and reinstall axle carrier.

(drivers side)

4. Remove cv flange bolts and disconnect CV flange from inner axle flange.

5. Insert a prybar between the back of the axle flang and the differential case.

6. With light outward pressure on the prybar tap the backside of the inner axle flange to disengage the retaining clip.

7. Clean the axle shaft with 000 steel wool

8. Insert new seal and apply gear lube to the shaft portion only.

9. Reinstall the axle paying attention not to "roll" the new seal inward - Not a big deal just make sure to take your time and do it right.

10. Reinstall the cv flanges to the axle flanges on both sides

11. Fill the front diff with about 1.66 L of Mobil One (many will say that you need a new vent fitting and tube if you're using synthetic oil, I don't have the new hose and have been using syn since the vehicle was new.

12. Leave your skid plates off for a couple of days to check for leaks.

All in all, it took me about 3 1/2 hours taking my time. I used basic hand tools with the exception of having an imopact to remove the cv flange bolts.

This is a very easy repair for the shadetree mechanic...go for it. Beats paying someone 300+ for something you can do yourself.

For a schmatic google "AAM 8.25 axle" This is the axle GM sourced for our trucks from 1999-2005 plus. When you see the schematic don't get excited. It looks bad but there are only 3 or 4 parts to remove from the axle carrier on the passenger side axle.

Let me know if you have any questions....I didn't take pictures, but trust me, if your asking about doing this job, you've already proven to me you won't need them.