2004 Tahoe Front Differential Questions.

kilby

kilby

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Charlotte, NC
I took the wife's Tahoe in today for a minor thing, and of course something major was detected. The shop told me the front dif. was making noise like the bearings were shot. The tech said he could see metal in the fluid, and it was most likely in need of an overhaul.

First... I thought metal in teh fluid would be from gears not bearings. So does anybody have experience with this generation chebby truck? Anything weird I need to know?

Second... with about 93k on this rig, a dif. rebuild sounds like something I should just go ahead and do anyway. But their estimate was more money than I can spend (of COURSE).

I've only ever messed with Jeep axles. IFS is like a foreign world shrouded in mystery to me. Is this something a normal person can service in, say, their driveway? :rolleyes:

Obviously more info on the problem would be great, but I don't really have it. I wasn't aware of any issues w/ the front dif in this truck, so I never paid much attention to it.

By the way, this Tahoe has the full time 4x4 and low range with a 5.3L. :driver:
 
Which bearings? The pinion or carrier bearings will require the diff to be removed from the truck, opened up and replaced, which is a pain in the butt.

If it's the axle shaft bearings, it goes pretty much the same as straight axle wheel bearings. Remove the CV shafts (obviously), then for the passenger side unbolt the axle tube from the diff to remove it then service the bearings. For the drivers side, use a rubber mallet, and knock the shaft out of the diff and service the bearings.

Whatever you do, DO NOT drive the truck with the CV shafts out. If the bearing is really sounding bad and you don't have the time/cash to service it then, you can pull the CV shafts, and disassemble the outer joint, then bolt the stub shaft back in the hub, this is what holds the hub together. This will keep anything in the differential from spinning.

If you do need to service the carrier/pinion bearings and need to keep driving the truck, follow what I said before about the CV shafts, then remove the front diff and take it to a shop/work on it yourself if you are capable. Usually removing this yourself knocks off about an hour or two of labor charges at the shop. The front driveshaft is a slip yoke at the Tcase, but it is sealed, I never had any fluid drip out like with other slip yoke cases, and I drove mine for a couple days with it out, with no issues. Just to be safe, check the level and check for any puddles underneath.


But of course, first off I would check the fluid myself to see what you are dealing with, spin the shafts and see what noises you hear. Could be something, could be nothing.

When I pulled the diff out of my truck at 75k miles, there were a bit of shavings on the magnet, but they were really fine, about the consistency of nickel anti seize, gears looked brand new, and I had no noises. This was when I removed it to throw 5.13s in.


EDIT: You said Full time 4wd...in a Tahoe...Somethings not right there. Are you sure you don't have Autotrak auto 4wd, not full time? Should have 2hi,4hi,4lo, and Auto. Not full time, although on some the driveshaft does drag and spin most of the time even in 2hi, but that is only certain years.

The only "full time" 4wd would be the AWD Escalade/Denali/SS, which have no lowrange, and depending on the year may have a viscous clutch Tcase that cannot be ran without the front diff in, other years are fine. But since you said 5.3, it's obviously not one of those.
 
kilby said:
Yeah.. it's definitely fulltime 4x4. Stabilitrack -- i think -- is the GM marketing-speak. The dash buttons have either a fulltime option or 4Lo, no 2x4.
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What year is it then? I've never seen them with anything other than the standard 241 or the Autotrak.

If it has stabilitrak though it should be a newer model, and like the newer cases in the esky/ss/denali can be ran with the CV's front diff out I "think", but I am not positive. I know they changed from a NVG149 to a Borgwarner in the AWD Denalis, but they had no low range. Not sure on your transfer case.
 
Yeah... it could be Autotrac. I think Stabilitrack is what they call the traction control feature, right? Between all the crap in Jeeps and now this, I can't keep my "whatever"Trac straight. :rolleyes:
 
kilby said:
Yeah... it could be Autotrac. I think Stabilitrack is what they call the traction control feature, right? Between all the crap in Jeeps and now this, I can't keep my "whatever"Trac straight. :rolleyes:
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After doing a little research, I assume yours is a 03/04? From what I read the full time 4wd was just for the first year or so of the Stabilitrak, and for that one year it had a full time 4wd Borg Warner case, after that it went back to being selectable to 2wd.

From what I see it is the BW 4482, and you cannot run it without the front shaft, or it will hurt the planetary gearset.

Apparently it's a pretty rare option, I've never seen it before. Also because of the Stabilitrak in a 03-04, you lose the "standard" limited slip G80 rear, in 05 it came back.

But back to the front axle, it is still the same process to check it out as the other trucks, you just can't drive with it or the shafts out of the truck.
 
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