Engine Swap to stroked 6.0 (408) and general vehicle refurbishment

[Tonyrodz]

More parts came today.

View attachment 358769

How much those run you?

 

[Chooko]

How much those run you?

225.97 shipped from LSXceleration.

 

[1badjimmy]

The X-Link is for the 2003 through 2006 models. Their throttle body had an 8 pin connector. You will be good to go with the one you have.

To the best of my knowledge an 90mm throttle body is modded or designed to where the throttle blade and exit are 90mm. The place where the intake tube goes stays the same to make life easier and because the first ones were factory ones machined to accept the larger blade.

Hope that helps.

 

[Chooko]

The X-Link is for the 2003 through 2006 models. Their throttle body had an 8 pin connector. You will be good to go with the one you have.

To the best of my knowledge an 90mm throttle body is modded or designed to where the throttle blade and exit are 90mm. The place where the intake tube goes stays the same to make life easier and because the first ones were factory ones machined to accept the larger blade.

Hope that helps.

Thats exactly what I wanted to hear, and very helpful. Thank you!

 

[Chooko]

Finally, at long last, the Eaton arrived today.


Looks like I be working on the rear end this week, or this weekend, depending on the weather.

 

[Chooko]

Well, I finally got to actually do some work on the Tahoe today.


Got the Rear end opened up without to many issues. Disconnected the top bolt for the swaybar endlinks and rotated the bar down so that the hump in it is clear. Also, there is a stamped bar that runs from side to side that would have been blocking the top of the differential cover, so I removed that to get access. Got the cover off and drained.

The gears looked pretty good. At least I think they did. This is my first time getting inside a differential like this, so maybe they are terrible and I just don't know it. The C-Clips on the axles were a real hassle to get out. It took quite a bit of fiddling to get them positioned just right, so that I could get behind the center of them with a pick and pull them out. But eventually I got them.


After that the old carrier and ring gear came right out.

 

[Chooko]

Once that was out, I decided to pull the old axle bearings and seals.

Does anyone know the purpose of the little plastic ring with the castelations on it?

I ask because if you look closely you will see that it was slightly damaged and one of the little castelations was broken off. I'm not sure what caused it. Its pretty flimsy plastic so I cant imagine that it does a whole lot in there. maybe just holds something on the production line? I pounded in the new bearing, which rides flush against the metal ring that retains the plastic thing, so hopefully it stays in place and doesn't hurt anything. Here are the new bearing and seal installed. I did both sides.

 

[Chooko]

After that, I pounded out the pinion gear.

And then the real fun began. The pinion gear bearing races were a nightmare to get out. I finally got them, but it took WAY more pounding and was WAY more difficult than YouTube led me to expect. And then getting them back in...I finally got the front one in and seated. Then rear one is still only halfway in, but I had to come in for the night. The temperature dropped at least 50 degrees here today while I was working and it was getting cold. Also, it was getting late and I'm pretty sure my neighbors didnt want to hear any more hammering tonight. I think in the morning I'm going to try taking it back off, and putting it in the freezer for a while, and get it real good and cold. Maybe then itll go in easier. Thoughts? Here is the darned rear pinion bearing race once I fianlly got it out:


The other issue that I had was that I COULD NOT get the rear bearing off the old pinion. I have a press and bearing separator, and it actually bent the bearing seperator, but the bearing did not budge. Its not that big of a deal since I am putting in new gears and not reusing the old pinion or bearing, except that I was hoping to use it as a setup bearing to get the pinion depth set. So, I spent quite a bit of time with a caliper measuring the old pinion gear vs the new one, and the old bearing vs the new one, and trying to calculate the shims needed for the new bearing. Once I figured that out I pressed the new bearing onto the new pinion. Hopefully I get lucky with the depth because I am worried about getting the bearing off to adjust shims since I couldn't get it off the old pinion. I also pressed on the carrier bearings onto the new carrier, and got the ring gear torqued to the carrier. I should have all day tomorrow to work on it, so hopefully I can make more progress. Ideally it'll be done tomorrow, but this isnt an ideal world so...it probably won't be. I'll try to take more pictures tomorrow. I was supposed to have help today, but it didnt materialize, so my picture taking suffered.

 

[iamdub]

After that, I pounded out the pinion gear.
View attachment 359466
And then the real fun began. The pinion gear bearing races were a nightmare to get out. I finally got them, but it took WAY more pounding and was WAY more difficult than YouTube led me to expect. And then getting them back in...I finally got the front one in and seated. Then rear one is still only halfway in, but I had to come in for the night. The temperature dropped at least 50 degrees here today while I was working and it was getting cold. Also, it was getting late and I'm pretty sure my neighbors didnt want to hear any more hammering tonight. I think in the morning I'm going to try taking it back off, and putting it in the freezer for a while, and get it real good and cold. Maybe then itll go in easier. Thoughts? Here is the darned rear pinion bearing race once I fianlly got it out:
View attachment 359467

The other issue that I had was that I COULD NOT get the rear bearing off the old pinion. I have a press and bearing separator, and it actually bent the bearing seperator, but the bearing did not budge. Its not that big of a deal since I am putting in new gears and not reusing the old pinion or bearing, except that I was hoping to use it as a setup bearing to get the pinion depth set. So, I spent quite a bit of time with a caliper measuring the old pinion gear vs the new one, and the old bearing vs the new one, and trying to calculate the shims needed for the new bearing. Once I figured that out I pressed the new bearing onto the new pinion. Hopefully I get lucky with the depth because I am worried about getting the bearing off to adjust shims since I couldn't get it off the old pinion. I also pressed on the carrier bearings onto the new carrier, and got the ring gear torqued to the carrier. I should have all day tomorrow to work on it, so hopefully I can make more progress. Ideally it'll be done tomorrow, but this isnt an ideal world so...it probably won't be. I'll try to take more pictures tomorrow. I was supposed to have help today, but it didnt materialize, so my picture taking suffered.

How quickly could you knock it out tonight so you could freeze it overnight?

 

[Chooko]

How quickly could you knock it out tonight so you could freeze it overnight?

Believe me, I thought about it. But I am all cleaned up, the wife and kid (and the neighborhood) are asleep. I think I'll just have to wait for the morning.