Help! 1997 Silverado Differential Bearing

[cntrlfrk]

I am currently traveling and several hundred miles from home when I noticed a 'clunking' noise coming from my front end as I pulled up to a stop sign.

 

I inspected further to find a bad bearing on the gearbox of the front differential (drivers side).

 

My question is, what am I risking if I continue to drive like this? (400+ miles to go) and, since I have few tools with me, can I simply take the nut off from the front hub, remove the bolts from the gearbox end of the shaft and pull the shaft out and keep driving?

 

I've never done much work on this front-end, so I am a little clueless here.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[L29er]

not quite sure what you mean, is it your pinion bearing on the front diff? the one the front driveshaft from t-case attaches to?

 

 

Kinda sounds like your talking about one of your C/V joints between the wheels and the diff? this won`t be able to be removed with few tools on the side of the road, its a bit of a thing to get out...

 

if it is, probly should last you as long as your not going to use your 4wd, never heard of them blowing up in 2wd on the hyway before...

[cntrlfrk]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Yes, I'm talking about the C/V 'short shaft' running from the drivers side rotor to the diffferential. The bearing on the differential appears to be out. Problem is, this shaft appears to turn all of the time, even when not in 4x4. So, I didn't know what would happen if it failed further on my drive home.

 

Does the entire hub assembly need to be disassembled to get the shaft out? Or, like I said, can I simply take the nut off the rotor end of the shaft and the 4 (6?) bolts off of the differential end of the C/V shaft and keep driving?

 

Thanks again.

[L29er]

yeah if theres play there your seal should have puked out alot of oil, and yes the c/vs are contantly moving with the vehicle, removing the shaft from the diff will cause all the oil to come out and further destroy your truck, best to keep her together.

removing the c/vs i would not recommend as this could potentially allow your wheel bearing to seperate and cause a horrific crash!

 

so you might be stuck, if you figure it makes to much racket to drive then get her fixed, other wise keep it all together a drive home, keeping it together at least if the diff fails you should be able to pull over and call tripple a.

[cntrlfrk]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I was able to make it home, and the noise got louder and louder the remainder of the trip. Really didn't bother at high speeds though, no vibration, no noise. Only at low speeds.

 

Got it in the shop today for a new set of bearings and CV joint!