New rear axle bearings and seals.

[PatDTN]

Backstory... When I bought my 2009 Tahoe LTZ I went over it looking for things to fix. Found back then that the right rear axle seal was bad and that corner was messy. I cleaned it up with brake cleaner spray and left it alone. It's a fairly involved job and I wanted to see what else was going on with the truck. It had 150k miles.

I'm over 200k miles now and have some time plus some odd things going on with the truck. I bought a bunch of brake parts and set about doing both sides completely.

This thing is seriously rusty under the back end. I'm getting the previous owner launched a boat in salt water.

The first thing I ran into was getting the axles out. I watched videos and was ready except my diff didn't look like any of the videos. Until I found one with exactly what I was seeing and the words THIS IS THE WRONG SIDE. I rotated my diff and lo and behold there was what I wanted to see. The stupid c-clip didn't want to come out until I pushed and pried and got the axle a little more clear of things and it dropped right out.

Next was the seal. I've pulled a LOT of seals over the years. I never had one bend a pry bar before. I had to take a cold chisel and roll the edge in until I could get vice grips on it and peel it out.

At that point I decided I had to go rent a bearing puller. I slipped the puller into the bearing and started wailing away. What I got was shrapnel. The side of the race blew out and pieces flew.

But not the whole thing. With the roller bearings out of the way I walked the puller around the bearing hammering away all to no avail. A very smart friend had told me that if you run a bead of weld around the inside of the race you're pulling when you're done it'll shrink and practically fall out. I did. It didn't. I finally shoved the bearing puller all the way in through the ABS ring and got it well hooked on that. Finally I was able to pull the bearing race and the now crushed ABS ring.

When I get my new ABS rings (went ahead and ordered two from Amazon because I can't find one locally) I'll look at it to see but I think someone mangled this one before me as there was a bunch of clear silicone glopped around it.

While I have the rented puller I'll go get the other axle ready though I don't like pulling both axles out at the same time.

Oh yeah, while I was wailing away with the puller my truck started making a ticking that sounded like a relay chattering. Finally I opened the door and put the truck in park so I could take the key out. That stopped it for a while. After doing some online searching I went back to find the sound going on again. When I opened the door it stopped but this thing is dead electrically now. I wonder if it thinks I was in an accident.

 

[swathdiver]

I've done one side and it wasn't a whole lot of fun! Those rotten bolts would have worried me silly!

 

[Rocket Man]

I pulled both axles, both seals and both ABS reluctor rings out of my 08 Silverado with no issues but I got a puller from a loan-a-tool program. Pulled the bearings, then the reluctors after that. As far as the electrical issue, you didn’t disconnect the battery first? That’s always the first thing I do before any major work. That way the computers don’t detect meddling. When you say it’s dead electrically, is it just a dead battery or what exactly is going on?

Edit: to install the reluctor you need the specialized Kent-Moore tool to set it at the correct depth. I bought a used one off eBay.

 

[PatDTN]

Rocketman, thanks for the tip on installing the reluctor.

I got the puller set from AutoZone in their free loaners. Couldn't get the puller to sit squarely on the seal by itself or the bearing. In frustration i just shoved it all the way through the reluctor.

I had to lift the edges of both seals with a cold chisel and roll them in until I could grab the edge with channel locks and peel them out. It's like someone glued everything in.

 

[thompsoj22]

Backstory... When I bought my 2009 Tahoe LTZ I went over it looking for things to fix. Found back then that the right rear axle seal was bad and that corner was messy. I cleaned it up with brake cleaner spray and left it alone. It's a fairly involved job and I wanted to see what else was going on with the truck. It had 150k miles.

I'm over 200k miles now and have some time plus some odd things going on with the truck. I bought a bunch of brake parts and set about doing both sides completely.

This thing is seriously rusty under the back end. I'm getting the previous owner launched a boat in salt water.

The first thing I ran into was getting the axles out. I watched videos and was ready except my diff didn't look like any of the videos. Until I found one with exactly what I was seeing and the words THIS IS THE WRONG SIDE. I rotated my diff and lo and behold there was what I wanted to see. The stupid c-clip didn't want to come out until I pushed and pried and got the axle a little more clear of things and it dropped right out.

Next was the seal. I've pulled a LOT of seals over the years. I never had one bend a pry bar before. I had to take a cold chisel and roll the edge in until I could get vice grips on it and peel it out.

At that point I decided I had to go rent a bearing puller. I slipped the puller into the bearing and started wailing away. What I got was shrapnel. The side of the race blew out and pieces flew.

But not the whole thing. With the roller bearings out of the way I walked the puller around the bearing hammering away all to no avail. A very smart friend had told me that if you run a bead of weld around the inside of the race you're pulling when you're done it'll shrink and practically fall out. I did. It didn't. I finally shoved the bearing puller all the way in through the ABS ring and got it well hooked on that. Finally I was able to pull the bearing race and the now crushed ABS ring.

When I get my new ABS rings (went ahead and ordered two from Amazon because I can't find one locally) I'll look at it to see but I think someone mangled this one before me as there was a bunch of clear silicone glopped around it.

While I have the rented puller I'll go get the other axle ready though I don't like pulling both axles out at the same time.

Oh yeah, while I was wailing away with the puller my truck started making a ticking that sounded like a relay chattering. Finally I opened the door and put the truck in park so I could take the key out. That stopped it for a while. After doing some online searching I went back to find the sound going on again. When I opened the door it stopped but this thing is dead electrically now. I wonder if it thinks I was in an accident.

Yikes what a pita, your friend is correct in regard to the weld bead and i havent seen it not work til now! Take your time going back together and do it right, even if it means waiting for some special tools so you "never" have to revisit that area again!

 

[PatDTN]

The weld bead definitely helped. I didn't run it all the way around though, only a little less than half.

I need to look up the correct procedure for installing the reluctor--likely somewhere on this site. A special tool would be nice but if I can just cut a piece of PVC to a specific length it won't cost more money and time.

 

[Rocket Man]

The weld bead definitely helped. I didn't run it all the way around though, only a little less than half.

I need to look up the correct procedure for installing the reluctor--likely somewhere on this site. A special tool would be nice but if I can just cut a piece of PVC to a specific length it won't cost more money and time.

Good luck with finding anyone who has done it. I searched and searched and couldn’t find information on it. Seems to be a pretty rare repair. I went by my alldatadiy instructions. The tool isn’t cheap either and it’s big. Here’s a pic. LMK if you want measurements.

 

[PatDTN]

Measurements would be awesome. I presume they get driven into the housing since they won't fit past the bearings. I see where the sensor sits on the housing so I would be looking to center the "fins" over that. Keeping things square would be the chief purpose of the tool.

 

[Rocket Man]

Measurements would be awesome. I presume they get driven into the housing since they won't fit past the bearings. I see where the sensor sits on the housing so I would be looking to center the "fins" over that. Keeping things square would be the chief purpose of the tool.

It sets the depth so the bearing doesn’t touch it I believe. It sits directly behind it almost in contact. And yes you drive it in just like the bearing but unlike the bearing there’s no shoulder for it to seat against. At least that’s what I understand.

 

[PatDTN]

That's what I was guessing. I don't remember seeing a shoulder for the bearing to sit against either. Need to look at that. Videos of driving in the bearing show stopping when you see the small groove outside of the bearing.

 

[PatDTN]

So after getting back after it with all the parts I cleaned up inside the housing and there are stops for each of the Tone Ring, Bearing, and seal. Okay, the seal stops against the outside of the housing.

I had a rented bearing and seal driver but it was a stupid design and I couldn't come close to using it for the Tone Ring (reluctor). I used a large 3/4" drive socket and walked it in with that. Worked fine.

Meanwhile (not back at the ranch) I had put my bearings and seals in the deep freeze yesterday. When I was ready for those the bearings almost fell into place with just a little tapping. Seals too. Sweet.

Got that back together and before I put the axles in my way I installed my new parking brake shoes. It's a snap when you don't have the axles in the way. Slid the axles back in and wiggled them in. Plunked the U-clips on the axle ends and went to reinstall the lightly lubricated pinion or pin or whatever. Hm. No go. Rotate an axle and et voila dropped in. Then I needed to rotate the whole thing to put the bolt back to hold that pin in place and it wouldn't turn.

Oh no! What do I have wrong? Oh yeah. I'm back in Park. :-/ With it back out of park that part was a cinch too. I use a 1/4" drive long extension and can spin that little sucker right back in and snug it down.

My new diff gasket was rubberized so I skipped the RTV. One of the bolts for the cover is a few threads longer to hold the brake line clip. Got that on there too. Filled the diff with synthetic and a tube of friction modifier. I don't know if I should have used the friction modifier for an Eaton diff. Seemed to be just a little low on oil yet so I guess I get to go buy another bottle.

Putting the brand new rear rotors onto the brand new parking brake ring I had adjusted both sides all the way back in. One side slips right on and seems loose. The other side didn't want to go at all. I figured it just wasn't centered properly but nothing I've done yet seems to get it centered. I pulled it down using some of the lugs. Who knows what havoc will occur the first time I drive it. I did hold the parking brake release and pump that up and down. Needs adjustment. Gotta go look that up next.

To make getting to the rusty bolts on my diff cover easier I took the cross brace off from the suspension. With the axle at full droop I won't get that back in. I'll put my wheels back on and jack up the diff until that's close or lined up.

I put new calipers and brackets on with new brake shoes too. Now I also need to bleed my brakes. I guess that should come before putting the wheels back on.

 

[Rocket Man]

Sweet. No modifier needed for the new fluids. But that’s a whole other discussion as some think it’s still needed. There’s a thread here or on gmullsize that’s been going on forever discussing this. Glad everything worked out for you. Looking forward to your first drive.

 

[PatDTN]

So it's been a few days since my first drive. When I turned the key on I got an ABS light that stayed on. At first movement the dash lit up with errors for things related to reading the rear wheel speed. Oh dang.

My first thought was that in pulling things apart I had wiped the ends off the sensors to read the reluctor. I drove it like that for a while with the ABS kicking in at odd times and the lights staying lit. I had a houseful of guests so I didn't have much choice but to load my group into the Tahoe with 3 rows of seats and haul everybody up to Gatlinburg for a day. All the lights stayed on. On my way home all the lights stayed on. I didn't expect anything else.

I arranged with a friend to get some time on his lift to replace the sensors. Called O'Reilly's auto parts near me and was assured they could read all the codes with their Bosch reader. When I started the Tahoe to go there 2 days after driving to Gatlinburg and back there were NO lights. Hm.

I figured as soon as I moved it would light up. Nope. Got up to 60 in short order; no more lights. Took the highway route over to Dandridge and ran 80. No lights.

O'Reilly's plugged in their reader and saw some stale codes that showed the right rear sensor wasn't reading. Stale! It worked fine now. It's been fine since through many starts and stops. I've shut it down at short stops and each time it comes up clean.

My theory is that the reluctor had a coating of black goo I took to be grease. I think it caused the reluctor to slip on the axle shaft and not turn. Driving enough washed it out and the reluctor locked onto the axle.

Now though I need to get back in and tighten up the parking brake. It won't hold worth a crap right now. Annoying.

 

[89Suburban]

Pat great posts and details here. Thanks for talking me out of doing mine.

My LR seal has a weep and it will continue to do so. Great info here by everybody in case I change my mind later. Thanks.

 

[PatDTN]

While the job is no snap by any means there are better tools for pulling seals and bearings. I had no idea the reluctor was inside the axle tube and wasn't prepared for my free rental tools to be so poorly fit for the job. The right puller will get things out in the proper order though rolling the seal in may still be the best way for it.

Ironically my friend with the lift has the better puller but I never talked with him about it. The real shame is that he came over to look at my differential when I couldn't locate the U-clips. That was before screwing up things with the rental tool.

 

[Rocket Man]

So it's been a few days since my first drive. When I turned the key on I got an ABS light that stayed on. At first movement the dash lit up with errors for things related to reading the rear wheel speed. Oh dang.

My first thought was that in pulling things apart I had wiped the ends off the sensors to read the reluctor. I drove it like that for a while with the ABS kicking in at odd times and the lights staying lit. I had a houseful of guests so I didn't have much choice but to load my group into the Tahoe with 3 rows of seats and haul everybody up to Gatlinburg for a day. All the lights stayed on. On my way home all the lights stayed on. I didn't expect anything else.

I arranged with a friend to get some time on his lift to replace the sensors. Called O'Reilly's auto parts near me and was assured they could read all the codes with their Bosch reader. When I started the Tahoe to go there 2 days after driving to Gatlinburg and back there were NO lights. Hm.

I figured as soon as I moved it would light up. Nope. Got up to 60 in short order; no more lights. Took the highway route over to Dandridge and ran 80. No lights.

O'Reilly's plugged in their reader and saw some stale codes that showed the right rear sensor wasn't reading. Stale! It worked fine now. It's been fine since through many starts and stops. I've shut it down at short stops and each time it comes up clean.

My theory is that the reluctor had a coating of black goo I took to be grease. I think it caused the reluctor to slip on the axle shaft and not turn. Driving enough washed it out and the reluctor locked onto the axle.

Now though I need to get back in and tighten up the parking brake. It won't hold worth a crap right now. Annoying.

That black stuff is not grease. It’s there to help the reluctor grab the axle yet still be able to remove and reinstall the axle. Glad things are working now.

 

[Rocket Man]

While the job is no snap by any means there are better tools for pulling seals and bearings. I had no idea the reluctor was inside the axle tube and wasn't prepared for my free rental tools to be so poorly fit for the job. The right puller will get things out in the proper order though rolling the seal in may still be the best way for it.

Ironically my friend with the lift has the better puller but I never talked with him about it. The real shame is that he came over to look at my differential when I couldn't locate the U-clips. That was before screwing up things with the rental tool.

Weird, the bearing puller and install set I borrowed from Oreilly worked perfect.

 

[PatDTN]

Probably. I now see them as the better auto parts store. I got my set from AutoZone.

 

[Mericas_Meuth]

Speaking of the subject... What are the best bearings to go with on rear axle? I know to use timken on front wheel hub assembly but haven't had luck finding the "go to" bearing for the rear.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Rocket Man]

Speaking of the subject... What are the best bearings to go with on rear axle? I know to use timken on front wheel hub assembly but haven't had luck finding the "go to" bearing for the rear.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

I used ACDelco.