Pinion shaft seal replacement?

[68jimmy]

Whats involved and can one perform this without having to remove the diff?

TIA..

[sneakysnake]

Scotch the wheels, drop the drive shaft, take a pipe wrench with a cheater pipe and put on the yoke to keep it from turning, take a big socket and remove the center nut and washer,the yoke should pull off but some times needs a tap or puller, now take a big screwdriver and stick in under the lip inside the of the seal and pry popping the old seal out,have a catch can handy you should get a little oil, wipe down put in new seal trick is get a piece of pipe that just fits the metal edge of the seal it can be metal or pvc tap the seal flush,reverse the yoke process and top off you oil level.

[junkyardjohn]

I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING SNEAKYSNAKE SAID EXCEPT FOR THE WHEEL REMOVAL BIT. IF YOU LEAVE THE WHEELS ON THE TRUCK & ON THE GROUND, THE YOKE WONT TURN & YOU DON'T NEED THE PIPE WRENCH OR THE CHEATER BAR. PEOPLE HAVE CLAIMED THAT YOU HAVE TO TORQUE THE PINION NUT TO A CERTAIN SPEC. , BUT I HAVE JUST TAKEN IT OFF WITH AN IMPACT WRENCH, & JUST TIGHTENED IT BACK UP AS TIGHT AS I COULD GET IT. I NEVER HAD ANY NOISE OUT OF THE FEW THAT I HAVE PUT IN. JOHN
I CAN CHANGE ONE FASTER THAN I CAN TYPE OUT INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOING IT, BUT I'M A SLOW TYPER. JOHN

[sneakysnake]

I said "Scotch or chock" the wheel, (not remove them). So it doesnt roll when you drop the drive shaft.Unless you use an impact you will need to hold the yoke from turning and truck from moving even with the tires chocked.

[junkyardjohn]

SORRY... MY MISUNDERSTANDING, I THOUGHT YOU SAID TO REMOVE THEM. I'VE NEVER HEARD THE TERM "SCOTCH THE WHEELS" BEFORE & I'VE ALWAYS USED AN IMPACT TO REMOVE THE YOKE. JOHN

[carl609]

You should take a chissel and mark the pinion and the nut, and line them back up when you are done. There is a crush sleeve inside that is designed to put preload on the pinion bearings. you want to get that as close to what it was for longer bearing life.

[Tx Firefighter]

I agree with Carl609. That's the way they taught in the dealership shop. You need to make sure the nut is tightened exactly yo where it was before removal. That's GM's unofficial method.

If your parking brake is set and adjusted, you shouldn't need any chocks or pipe wrenches at all.

An impact is the way to go if you have one though.

[68jimmy]

Thanks for all the great tips... I'll let you know how it goes.

[71meangreenc10]

Just to let you know, if you dont take the rear end apart consider this, the crush sleeve can be damaged if you dont have the right tools, if you over torque it (with air tools) you can cause the preload to be wrong hence over time the rear end could be damaged, dont take too many long trips on it. To do it right you need a inch pound torque wrench with an adapter for the socket and a tool to hold the yoke, mark or remember the thread count before removing the nut, when installing, hand tighten the nut to the original location, then use the torque wrench but do not exceed 5 inch pounds.

Smitty