Last month I asked if anyone knew about setting the depth of the replacement pinion seals. I remember doing this job many years ago and the GM service manual shows a tool for this. Well the current manuals on the market are garbage, so I dug through some old Chiltons form 1976-77 and it lists the rear end rebuilding procedure as well as leaving a .125" (1/8") gap between the housing and seal. I have a couple of differentials apart now and can see there's a step for the seal to bottom out on. So either the replacement seal are not as thick as the GM ones were/are? or some people are hammering the seals down too far. The differential cross view in the manulas show this gap also if you look for it.
Hope this helps someone thinking about doing this job. Also be sure to put some permatex #2 on the pinion splines and OD of the seal,use grease on the seal ID.
Gary

 

That's some helpful pointers. I am in the middle of putting seals and bearings in my rear end. Do you have anymore helpful tips/pointers that you think might help me out? I have got the rear end apart and dissassembled it as much as I could. It looks like there are going to be alot of machine shop work. Is this true or am I jumping the gun?

 

Hi Steve,
Sounds like you're doing the same thing I am but you're ahead of me. That's ok because I take too much time doing these things :crazy: What I did was to check everything first before removing things so I have a good reference point. The last thing I have to find out is checking the pattern,which if bearings and seals only are replaced shouldn't change- at least that's what I've been told and read about.
Mark the bearing caps left & right so they go back on the same. Keep the carrier bearing shims segregated R & L too. I have used a pry bar to gently remove the carrier before, but this time I borrowed a spreader to see how it works. I'm also using a 1/2" impact gun to remove the pinion nut. I have a 20 ton press for the pinion bearing and a bearing separator kit. A Craftsman 2 jaw puller works good on the carrier bearings, you will need a spacer to cover the bearing ID when pulling it.
Mount the rear on an engine stand by the strut rod bracket holes(3/8-16 threads).
You can get prussian blue paste at NAPA for $3.00 if you want to check the pattern.
Get a good pair of snap ring pliers to put the yoke snap rings back on. I have several sets of pliers,snap on,sears,import and they're all junk in my opinion. I have a pr of fixed 90* pliers I got 20 years ago at a bearing supplier here and they work the best. I tried for 20 minute with the other pliers to get the rings off because my old pr were home,took about 10 seconds with the old pr :D
I bought the rebuild kit from Bair's in case you're wondering. Did I forget anything or do you have any procedures I missed?
Good Luck,
Gary


[Modified by gtr1999, 7:29 AM 2/1/2002]

 

Thanks for the info! I think you cleared alot up for me. Your right about the snap ring pliers. I paid $26 for mine and they are junk. It took me almost an hour to get one yoke off. I guess I will be ready to tackle this job tomorrow.

 

thanks for the info, i had my diff rebuilt locally almost 2 yrs ago and the rear pinion seal has been leaking,so i'm going to drop the diff again and see if i can fix it.