howardl

I did mine, bought the parts from riverside gear and did have to make some special pullers and drivers to get all the bearings out. You will also need a verysmall torque wrench (0 to 60 inch #) to set the preloads KD tools#2955. Also the GM manual for the procedure. www.riversidegear.com

Alumasports front and rear

If you don't have metal on the magnet your differential is ok. I have had both front wheel bearings go bad. Jack it up and check them out. I jacked up all 4 and put in gear then walked around an listen you can tell what is making the noise..bearing assembly = 160$ each at auto parts store 300$ dealer.

Now that I have lots of miles on my Baer 14" alumasports the rears have worn much faster than the fronts. So my question is has any one changed the front to rear bias?

Mag-hytec is the best IMO I have it on my sS from the start.. http://www.mag-hytec.com/store/index.php?m...&cPath=2_10

I have a deep transmission aluminum finned pan made by Mag-Hytec. Really nice piece! The also make one for the rear diff.

There are plenty of threads on this topic just do some searches. Having been thru both problems I would pull the front diff drain plug and see if there is metal on the magnet if there is a problem starting the magnet will be full of metal 1/2" dia or more. the fluid will also be black it is pretty clear when new.

I am thinking about converting over to part time 4wheel drive with all the front diff problems and the price of gas. Has anyone done this and how did you do it? I have a spare front diff so I think all I need is a xfer case?

I have a werring noise comming from under the passenger side dash, it werrs and then pauses then starts again. I thought it was the heater blower but does not change at all with the speed of the blower. It does seem to stop for moment when I push the air recirculation switch. ???? anybody have this and solve it??

I just had the same thing It was the passenger side wheel bearing.. It gets bad quickly and by the time I jacked it up the wheel was really loose and the noise was really loud. the part at the dealer was $330 at parts store $150. dealer labor wanted $150. My truck had 56K miles at time of failure. Between the front Diff and the wheel bearing failure I am really disapointed in Chevy quality..Too many cheap bearings...

First thing to do is remove the front diff drain plug if it is hairy you have the problem.

The first thing to do is remove the drain plug if there is metal on the magnet you have a problem. To do this yourself you will need the repair manual for all the settings and I had to make tools and press adapters to remove all the bearings and seals(I have a Press, lathe and bridgeport). Here is wording from a previous post I had. I took my old unit apart and found the driverside carrier bearing locking tab broken and the passenger side carrier bearing trashed. I am replacing all bearings and seals, gears look fine. The new unit cost $800 bucks from the dealer, GM would only offer 20% off and I had to give them the old unit so I kept it. New parts are $150 thats all bearings and seals + locking tabs. Bought all my parts from Riverside Gear 517-663-4410 they were very helpfull and said they don't know of a complete fix for the failures. Bottom line I have my spare unit to fall back on..Hope some one else can come up with a complete repair so this doesn't happen again..

You don't have to guess if the problem is in the differential! just pull the drain plug or have the dealer do, it there will be so much metal on the magnet that they will not be able to deny it any longer..read my other 2 replies to this thread.. just finished rebuilding my old unit.

I took my old unit apart and found the driverside carrier bearing locking tab broken and the passenger side carrier bearing trashed. I am replacing all bearings and seals, gears look fine. The new unit cost 800 bucks from the dealer, GM would only offer 20% off and I had to give them the old unit so I kept it. New parts are $180 thats all bearings and seals + locking tabs. Bought all my parts from Riverside Gear 517-663-4410 they were very helpfull and said they don't know of a complete fix for the failures. Bottom line I have my spare unit to fall back on..Hope some one else can come up with a complete repair so this doesn't happen again..

I just changed out the front differental and the rough bearing sound is gone. The truck is as good as new. 51K miles lots of metal on the drain plug magnet! will thell the tail..