2002 tahoe rear differential cover size

[915_Tahoe]

12 Bolt? I thought they quit using those in '91?

There are two 14 bolt rears, a 9.5" semi-floater and the full floating 11.5" used in the 3/4-ton trucks. The semi-floater is used in the 1/2-tons under certain circumstances.

https://yourcovers.com/differential_covers.html

you are correct, it is a 10 bold design, was looking at the illistration and it counts 14 bolts

 

[Rocket Man]

you are correct, it is a 10 bold design, was looking at the illistration and it counts 14 bolts

Yeah, it’s the standard 10 bolt GM.

 

[driven_mad]

Do the nuts tend to break, anyone have any advice for removal? Mine is 2002 - 17 years old - lots of rust and leaking

 

[Rocket Man]

Do the nuts tend to break, anyone have any advice for removal? Mine is 2002 - 17 years old - lots of rust and leaking

We don’t get rust up here but the only problem I’ve heard of is rounded off bolt heads in the rust belt. Be aware there are either SAE or metric bolts depending on the vehicle and it seems there’s no sure fire way to tell which you have without pulling one and checking. I pulled a top one (so less chance of a leak, there’s no fluid at the top) and took it to Ace to verify, then ordered a new set to have on hand.

 

[Jeff Groves]

In the rust belt rusted bolts on the cover can be a problem. You never have a socket to fit them depending on the rust. Try a Gator Grip socket. They work pretty good and I use them a lot on my job sites.
1 Gator covers a wide range of sizes so I don't need a bunch of sockets in my tool pouch.
Use an Impact driver and if the bolt is stubborn? Give it a tighten/loosen action a few times.
Generally that will get them to come out.
If that fails? Do the melted candle thing. That almost always works.

 

[Baggerjim]

Got a new one from Rock Auto

 

[Baggerjim]

Get the code from your glove box tag or build sheet

 

[driven_mad]

Well the bolts came out even tho they were rusted down to 12 mm but a brake line cracked due to the rust

 

[driven_mad]

Thank you everyone for your responses!

 

[Rocket Man]

Well the bolts came out even tho they were rusted down to 12 mm but a brake line cracked due to the rust

View attachment 225333

Damn rusted brake lines.