2002 Yukon Rear Axle Bearing & Seal replacement

Have been reading this forum as a non member for a while. So want to say thank you to all of the great contributions that have been made here. It's helped me out a ton. I decided to register and maybe contribute as well someday!

My first post and question.

Does anyone have a link to a guide on how to replace the rear axle bearing and seals on a 2002 Yukon XL?

Mine are not bad - I know why mess with em! But the thing has over 200k miles on it and i need to rebuild the brakes including the dust cover so thought that I would be proactive and do the bearings and seal since it will be apart.

Any guidance or how to would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Snowymountains,

Which rear axle do you have- the 10.5 in., 8.5 in., 8.6 in., 9.5 in. or 9.75 in.? The procedure will be slightly different for each respective unit.

Here's the requested walk-through to perform this maintenance job:

1) Raise the vehicle.

2) Remove the tire and wheel assemblies (8.6 inch, 9.5 inch axles).

3) Remove the rear brake calipers and rotors (8.6 inch, 9.5 inch axles).

4) Remove the axle shafts (10.5 inch, 11.5 inch axle).

5) Reference mark the rear driveshaft to the rear axle pinion yoke.

6) Disconnect the driveshaft from the axle.

7) Measure the torque required to turn the pinion. Record the torque number measurement which gives the combined pinion bearing, seal, carrier bearing, axle bearing and seal preload.

8) Make and accurate alignment mark on the pinion flange. Record the number of exposed threads on the pinion stem.

9) Remove the pinion flange nut and the washer. Use a container in order to catch any lubricant.

10) Remove the pinion flange.

11) Pry the oil seal from the bore.

12) Thoroughly clean any foreign material from the contact area. Replace any parts as necessary.

--Installation--

1) Lubricate the cavity between the lips of the oil seal with wheel bearing lubricant.

2) Install the oil seal into the bore using a driver.

3) Install the pinion flange. Use the alignment marks in the installation of the pinion flange.

4) Install the washer and a new nut. Tighten the nut on the pinion stem as close as possible to the alignment marks without going past the marks. Use the alignment marks and the thread count as a reference. Tighten the nut a little at a time. Turn the pinion flange several times after each tightening in order to seat the rollers.

5) Measure the torque required to rotate the pinion flange. 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.

6) Align the driveshaft with the alignment marks. Connect the driveshaft.

7) Install the axle shafts (10.5 inch, 11.5 inch axle).

8) Install the rear brake calipers and rotors (8.6 inch, 9.5 inch axles).

9) Install the tire and wheel assemblies (8.6 inch, 9.5 inch axles).

--Relevant Diagrams--

'02 Yukon Driveshaft diagram


Hope this helped you out in some way buddy

Thanks for the write up and link to the diagram. Question for ya. It almost sounds like you are describing the replacement of the pinion bearing and seal. Or am I not understanding!!

What I want to do is replace items #21 and #22 in the diagram you gave the link to.

Are those bearings removed with a standard bearing puller from say Harbor Freight and one of the slide hammers? And is installation basically taking a socket the same size as the bearing and tapping it in?

Thanks again for the help.