2011 Yukon Denali AWD Front Passenger Axle Seal Replacement

[Aron]

So I have spent hours reading through threads of similar situations but could not find one specific to my 2011 AWD Denali. I have two key questions that I can't seem to find an answer for before tackling the job. My questions are.....can the passenger axle seal be changed without taking the differential out of the car and will the shaft pop out of the diff tube without damaging any clips? I did see a video online where a guy has an 08 Escalade diff on the bench and he uses wedges to seperate the axle tube from the pumpkin and then uses dead blow hammer to knock the axle out of the tube. This seems like it would work for my 2011 AWD Denali but the second question would be....can I do it under the car without removing the whole differential? Has anyone tackled this job on the same model car with the AWD diff? Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated before I get under there and start cussing and breaking things!

 

[George B]

So I have spent hours reading through threads of similar situations but could not find one specific to my 2011 AWD Denali. I have two key questions that I can't seem to find an answer for before tackling the job. My questions are.....can the passenger axle seal be changed without taking the differential out of the car and will the shaft pop out of the diff tube without damaging any clips? I did see a video online where a guy has an 08 Escalade diff on the bench and he uses wedges to seperate the axle tube from the pumpkin and then uses dead blow hammer to knock the axle out of the tube. This seems like it would work for my 2011 AWD Denali but the second question would be....can I do it under the car without removing the whole differential? Has anyone tackled this job on the same model car with the AWD diff? Any tips or tricks would be much appreciated before I get under there and start cussing and breaking things!

You can donit without taking the whole diff out but you will need to take that extension off the passenger side andwork on the bench