How do you change bearings in a rear end of a 2000 Chevy blazer?

Answer 1

Rear edn Bearing chanceJust changed bearings in a '98 Jimmy.

If you're not used to tearing apart finicky things and good at keeping parts clean in a dirty environment, I'd get some help.

If you are a decent grease monkey, here are the basic steps. BTW, this was an open diff, not sure how much would be different for LS.

This is for a different axle, but will give you a better understanding of what is going on:

www.billhughes.com/dana35c/TJDana35.pdf

Also, make sure you have plenty of clean bench space to lay out parts in proper order.

Dissassembly:

1. Raise and put on jackstands, the higher the better, but you're going to be pushing, pulling, yanking and hitting on it, so it'd better be solid. Block front wheel.

2. Remove u-bolts holding sway bar to axle tubes so it can swing out of the way.

3. Loosen all diff cover bolts and remove all but 2 in top, pry loose to drain fluid.

4. Remove wheels and brake calipers (rear disk). Calipers can be set on leaf springs to keep tension off hose. Then remove brake disk (if it doesn't come easily, tap with rubber mallet to break loose.)

5. Remove diff cover and scrape leftover gasket/sealent off.

6. Remove pinion shaft retaining bolt (the solid shaft that holds the spider gears in the carrier.) You may have to put into neutral and turn driveshaft to get into proper position. Then remove inion shaft.

7. Carefully turn one axle to spin spider gears wher you can remove them. Note: If they stick, do NOT force them, there are thrust washers on the backs. Reach in from the back and push back into place, then spin. DO NOT allow any pieces to fall to floor! They may be damaged.

8. Push in on each axle and remove c-clip from inner axle ends. Pull axles out and use end of shaft to pry out wheel bearing seal.

9. Remove wheel bearings with slide hammer puller (tool loan from Autozone or other parts store.) These can be tough.

Note: At this point, Chilton's says "anything beyond this point, you should take to a knowledgable shop" I had never seen THAT before!

10. Mark side and orientation of carrier bearing caps and loosen. Remove cap bolts and then put back in to 3-4 threads. (this is the safety net)

11. Use a pry bar and pry on the center carrier housing to try to remove. If your carrier bearings are good, this will probably do no good. ---drop a piece of 1/4" chain through the center of the carrier. attach one end of a come-along (cable puller, or whatever name) to rear bumper and other end to chain.

12. SLOWLY and CAREFULLY use the come-along to pull carrier out as far as caps will allow (these will keep it from falling to the floor in case you aren't watching.) Remember you only have a few threads on the bolts, so don't put much pressure on them.

13. With one hand on carrier, remove bearing caps and pry if needed to remove carrier. DO NOT allow cast iron shims between bearing race and case to fall to the floor and break. If they do, we are talking MAJOR setup work.

14. Set carrier and shims carefully on workbench and check shims for wear (unless bearing spun, should be good.)

15. Remove u-bolts and u-joint from rear driveshaft yolk. Mark relation between yolk and end of shaft with paint stick or punch.

16. Using proper yolk holder (yeah, right. try pipe wrench laid above the muffler) to hold yolk still and use impact wrench to remove pinion nut.

17. Tap yolk with hammer (preferrably rubber mallet) to drive off of spline.

18. hold end of pinion gear in one hand and drive out using rubber mallet or protecting shaft end with block of wood.

19. pry out pinion seal and remove outer pinion bearing.

20. Use punch to carefully drive inner and outer pinion bearing race from case.

Dissassembly is complete. Take pinion and carrier to parts house or shop to have old bearings pressed off and new ones pressed on. While you're there, have them look at the gears to indicate proper wear patterns. If not, refer to above with lots of setup work.

Assembly:

1. Drive wheel bearings and seals in with driver or right sized socket.

2. Wipe inside of case and inspect.

3. Drive in inner and outer pinion bearing race into case.

4. Call local GM dealership and talk to parts desk or (if you can) their rear-end specialist. Get torque specs for

>pinion bearing preload

>carrier bearing cap bolts

5. Install outer pinion bearing and pinion seal in housing. Using syringe or small squeze bottle, cover pinion bearings wiith gear oil.

6. Install new crush collar on pinion gear and install.

7. Line up marks on yolk and slip onto spline as far as will easily go.

8. Use red threadlock on the pinion gear threads, put the trusty pipe wrench back onto yolk and tighten nut as far as you can with ratchet. Now is when you need that space underneath, because it takes a good push to bend that crush collar. You need agood pipe wrench and a good long breaker bar (or a torque multiplier if you have one). Slowly start drawing the nut down until there is just a little play in the pinion shaft.

9. Now, using the inch-lbs torque wrench you borrowed from Autozone (I mean, come on, where else are you going to use this) see how much torque it takes to turn the pinion gear. If it takes a lot, remove the pipe wrench so that the gear can turn. Keep tightening this until it meets the specs the dealership gave you. But, be careful, because it tightens FAST twards the end. If you go much too far, you will have to replace the crush collar and start over.

As long as your carrier bearings hadn't spun and were tight, the hard part is over.

10. Lube up the carrier bearings with gear oil and place races. Have someone else hold the original shims in place (on the correct side) while you start the carrier. As soon as the carrier is holding the shims in place, your helper can remove his/her fingers and stop yelling.

11. Slowly and carefully, use a rubber mallet or dead-blow hammer to drive the carrier in. Jog it in by tapping one side and then the other. If one of the races becomes unaligned, tap back in place with mallet.

12. Make sure you are centered in the bearing cups and drive as far as you can. The bearing caps will seat it the rest of the way. Torque to proper specs.

Lube all parts as you install.

Insert axles and c-clips, pull out on axle to seat clips.

Reinstall spider gears (lined up correctly, not quite as easy as sounds, but you'll get it), pinion shaft, retaining bolt (with threadlocker), then driveshaft.

Clean seal surfaces well and wipe with solvent. Apply red RTV and put in place. Tighten all bolts properly, making sure brake line brackets get back under theri respective bolts.

Reinstall sway bar, brake rotors, calipers, and wheels.

Fill with gear oil and remove jack stands. jack up each side of the vehicle, and allow to sit for 10 min one at a time to push oil to wheel bearings.

Drive at low speed for few miles. Feel ends of axles, climb under vehicle and feel temperature on diff housing where each pinion bearing and each carrier bearing are housed.

Let cool for 1 hr.

Drive again at low speeds for few miles, then feel and let cool 1 hr.

If any part gets too hot to leave your hand on, start over. If everything seems OK, take her out on the road at 60 mph for about 10 miles. It should get about as hot here as it ever will. If you can leave your hand on it now, you should be good to go. Just top off the oil and keep checking the temp every so often for the first few hundred miles.

If I left anything out, I hope someone will fill in the gaps.

As a disclaimer, This is te only one I have torn apart, and is the best information I could compile between the internet, friends (shade tree mechanics), parts house guys, and GM rear-end specialist.

I hope this helps some people in need.

John

Missouri