West 1
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Just finished the install of both new Front Differential Mounts on my 2008 Yukon Denali, AWD, 6.2L with the 6L80 trans now at 147,000 miles.
Took about 3 hours for both sides and one side repair working alone and I am older and slow for sure.
Found the driver side front bushing was worn, may have been the source of my clunk I hope. Still have not test driven since I was overdue for lunch when I finished.
To install these took a bit of work, have not done this job before. Certainly would have been faster if I had done this as advised when I rebuilt the front differential a few months back. I hit all the bolts with some Kroil before starting hoping to help break them loose and it worked pretty well. This is a CA car so pretty much zero rust.
Working alone I had to get creative to hold the bolts from the top inside the engine compartment while loosening them from under the car., Some straps, couple vise grips and long extensions got all 4 bolts out without too much trouble. Would have been about an hour faster if I had a helper to hold the wrenches up top while I loosened them from below for sure.
To gain space to remove the driver side diff mount I removed the Frame support that spans under the front diff so I could lower the diff a bit more. I removed the driver side CV shaft 6 mount bolts so I could gain just a little more drop in that front differential. That was enough. Was able to slip the old unit out and the new one back in.
For me both mounts were removed and installed from the rear side.
The Passenger side has more room and the CV stayed in place although I did have the entire front diff unbolted on driver and pass side for this job.
The last thing to think about is the Vent tube, when you drop the diff down it will unplug itself. Be sure to plug the vent back in once the diff is back up in place.
While down there it was a good chance to look hard at the previous work, replacing the Rear Main Seal and install of the new Luk Torque converter. Alll looked good, no oil dripping so all good. Just hoping the clunk is now gone from the front differential and I can call this truck good to go for a while.
Took about 3 hours for both sides and one side repair working alone and I am older and slow for sure.
Found the driver side front bushing was worn, may have been the source of my clunk I hope. Still have not test driven since I was overdue for lunch when I finished.
To install these took a bit of work, have not done this job before. Certainly would have been faster if I had done this as advised when I rebuilt the front differential a few months back. I hit all the bolts with some Kroil before starting hoping to help break them loose and it worked pretty well. This is a CA car so pretty much zero rust.
Working alone I had to get creative to hold the bolts from the top inside the engine compartment while loosening them from under the car., Some straps, couple vise grips and long extensions got all 4 bolts out without too much trouble. Would have been about an hour faster if I had a helper to hold the wrenches up top while I loosened them from below for sure.
To gain space to remove the driver side diff mount I removed the Frame support that spans under the front diff so I could lower the diff a bit more. I removed the driver side CV shaft 6 mount bolts so I could gain just a little more drop in that front differential. That was enough. Was able to slip the old unit out and the new one back in.
For me both mounts were removed and installed from the rear side.
The Passenger side has more room and the CV stayed in place although I did have the entire front diff unbolted on driver and pass side for this job.
The last thing to think about is the Vent tube, when you drop the diff down it will unplug itself. Be sure to plug the vent back in once the diff is back up in place.
While down there it was a good chance to look hard at the previous work, replacing the Rear Main Seal and install of the new Luk Torque converter. Alll looked good, no oil dripping so all good. Just hoping the clunk is now gone from the front differential and I can call this truck good to go for a while.
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