Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[Rocket Man]

The AWD front diff on the Escalade/Denali is a ticking time bomb when stock, your best bet is doing more frequent fluid changes unless someone makes a front diff for more power


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I'll probably get a Yukon Gear & Axle master rebuild kit and have it installed when I get the ring & pinion gears changed out to 4.11. it's better stuff than OEM. Until then it will be fluid changes and fingers crossed. I had the fluid changed about 20000 miles ago.

 

[1992rs]

Hey Red just a heads up the TA diff cover didn't fit my axle without Modification. I had to grind down the fins and the face of cover by the load bolts and notch a small bit out of my panhard bar.


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[bottomline2000]

Hey Red just a heads up the TA diff cover didn't fit my axle without Modification. I had to grind down the fins and the face of cover by the load bolts and notch a small bit out of my panhard bar.


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I was about to say this. I'm looking at this cover and regearing and it seems even the low profile one doesn't clear the Panhard. .

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[Rocket Man]

Hey Red just a heads up the TA diff cover didn't fit my axle without Modification. I had to grind down the fins and the face of cover by the load bolts and notch a small bit out of my panhard bar.


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Did you get the low profile one or the original? The low profile one has the area where the logo is ground down and the load bolts are recessed; it's made for vehicles with clearance issues due to panhard bars etc. Also I have the Spohn panhard bar which increases the clearance by about 1/2". I'm hoping it clears!

 

[1992rs]

Did you get the low profile one or the original? The low profile one has the area where the logo is ground down and the load bolts are recessed; it's made for vehicles with clearance issues due to panhard bars etc. Also I have the Spohn panhard bar which increases the clearance by about 1/2". I'm hoping it clears!

I got the low profile one too. With the spohn panhard bar you might be able to clear. TA says their cover is 3.75" deep, I measured mine at 3.5" and I had around 3.4" of room. Apparently in typical GM fashion, they didn't have good quality control and some brackets sit closer then others. I ended up making my own panhard bar with offset misalignment spacers that pushes it back 1/4" and smaller chromoly tubing and now I maybe have 1mm of clearance now.

Good luck, fingers crossed. Even mangled, my diff cover is still a beauty and it does work wonders!


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[Tonyrodz]

Got a li k for the cover?

 

[Rocket Man]

Got a li k for the cover?

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=automotive&field-keywords=ta-1807a

 

[Rocket Man]

Got the TA Performance girdle today. Sure is pretty. Too bad it won't fit even with the Spohn panhard bar so I ordered a QA1 panhard bar which is curved away from the diff and hopefully it will fit then. My rear end was only off-center by 1/4" so I don't really need an adjustable. Pulling the trans tomorrow, taking Wed off I can install the new one.
Edit: just noticed my Paypal for the QA1 went to Spohn Performance. Maybe they build them?

 

[Rocket Man]

Tranny is out. That was a hard job, and it took me 7 hours. Now that I know what it takes it should go in quicker. Fluid is real burnt - it smells horrible- and there's a lot of metal flakes in it. Definitely a catastrophic failure. Now I have to replace the rear seal on the engine and pull the flexplate and bell housing. Then wait until Wednesday to install.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Tranny is out. That was a hard job, and it took me 7 hours. Now that I know what it takes it should go in quicker. Fluid is real burnt - it smells horrible- and there's a lot of metal flakes in it. Definitely a catastrophic failure. Now I have to replace the rear seal on the engine and pull the flexplate and bell housing. Then wait until Wednesday to install. View attachment 181472View attachment 181473

Maybe you can keep the old case, and when time and money allows, rebuild it with some goodies, or even a stock build.