Front differential rebuild - looking for a walkthrough

[SEMark]

I am gearing up to do a rebuild of my front differential on a 2012 Yukon XL SLT (5.3L with 8.25" front diff). I've watched several Youtube videos, and it all looks to be reasonable to do.

I am wondering if there is a service manual available that would include all the torque specs, etc. and walk through the disassembly / reassembly procedure. I've found some recommendations for Alldatadiy online, but before I pull the trigger on the $20 for that, could anyone comment on if that kind of information is available on that site? Or is there another resource that covers the procedure?

Thanks, and sorry if this has been asked before! I tried searching, but there were a lot of false results.

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

Have you checked to see if you have the correct tools for this work. Good luck but if I was doing it for the first time, I would have a trained friend with me. I was in the field 35+ years and have never done a diff rebuild. One thing I do remember is that when you install new parts, start out with the existing shims/spacers in the same position and adjust from there.

 

[ivin74]

I rebuilt mine several years ago and has been trouble free since.. The specs are on post 7.

Please read thru the link below. I hope it helps.

Front differential rebuild GM 8.25 IFS (needs to be a sticky)

While searching how to rebuild the front diff on my Yukon I ran into this thread that I think should be a stick on this site. Its a very detail DIY, the only thing that I would add to this DIY is to replace the side gear washers and the spider gear washers on the carrier since you are already...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[OR VietVet]

I rebuilt mine several years ago and has been trouble free since.. The specs are on post 7.

Please read thru the link below. I hope it helps.

Front differential rebuild GM 8.25 IFS (needs to be a sticky)

While searching how to rebuild the front diff on my Yukon I ran into this thread that I think should be a stick on this site. Its a very detail DIY, the only thing that I would add to this DIY is to replace the side gear washers and the spider gear washers on the carrier since you are already...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

I have watched it done before, when I had time, and always felt, "there is an art to it".

 

[ivin74]

I have watched it done before, when I had time, and always felt, "there is an art to it".

The hardest thing was getting the backlash right.

 

[swathdiver]

I am gearing up to do a rebuild of my front differential on a 2012 Yukon XL SLT (5.3L with 8.25" front diff). I've watched several Youtube videos, and it all looks to be reasonable to do.

I am wondering if there is a service manual available that would include all the torque specs, etc. and walk through the disassembly / reassembly procedure. I've found some recommendations for Alldatadiy online, but before I pull the trigger on the $20 for that, could anyone comment on if that kind of information is available on that site? Or is there another resource that covers the procedure?

Thanks, and sorry if this has been asked before! I tried searching, but there were a lot of false results.

AllDataDIY has everything you need. Now the shop manual uses the special tools to do things, the videos on youtube use a screwdriver and a hammer!

 

[SEMark]

OK, progress so far. I opened up the diff but did not find any evidence of any blown out tapered bearings. But since I'm in here and have the parts, I'm going to replace them anyway.

I did find that one of the backlash adjusting rings was loose. I suspect that it backed off and allowed extra play in the gear mesh, and resulted in the gear noise I was hearing. This diff uses a different style of adjuster than is in the tutorial. I've attached pictures. Does anyone know how these ones are supposed to lock? The one side is tight, but the other one I could spin by hand. I can't see the difference between the two though.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[SEMark]

Sorry, duplicate post

 

[SEMark]

Sorry, triplicate post

 

[ivin74]

This diff uses a different style of adjuster than is in the tutorial. I've attached pictures. Does anyone know how these ones are supposed to lock? The one side is tight, but the other one I could spin by hand. I can't see the difference between the two though.

Thanks,
Mark

The adjuster rings should be a two piece set up. The inner section screws in/out. You need the spanner tool to turn it and adjust it. You can make one using a large socket, that's what I did.

The adjuster lock ring locks it in place.

Yukon Gear & Axle (YT A08) Spanner Tool for GM 8.25 IFS Differential https://a.co/d/6u4Nbp6