1999 Suburban diff is singing, not sure my options. Reman diffs?

[redfishsc]

Lol I didn't give you enough information. I intend to do both u-joint swaps the first thing I do before I start buying hundreds in rear end components. They are not expensive and not terribly difficult to do. It's worth it at this point since I have no idea how old these are.

The only difficult part is just the massive length of thing single piece shaft, I don't know what it weighs, so I'm not sure what I'm up against.

No, I haven't checked them yet other than a visual (which obviously isn't going to tell much).


The reason I keep talking about the rear end is because I'm convinced this is the main problem.

And yes you are right about preferring the 3.73. If I end up rebuilding the rear myself, I'm likely to use 3.90's from Yukon or Motive.

 

[burnhedge]

You aren't comfortable doing a rear end swap but are comfortable rebuilding one yourself?

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[90halfton]

Swapping out a rear axle may be the easiest thing ever. A rebuild is far more difficult.

 

[redfishsc]

You aren't comfortable doing a rear end swap but are comfortable rebuilding one yourself?

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Lol, I'm sure that it makes no sense to folks who have done it before. There's actually a LOT more information and tutorials on doing a complete rebuild than there is on simply dumping the whole thing and swapping in a new one. I've found a couple for swapping them on Jeeps and NBS Chevys that have rear coils, but none on dumping them with leaf springs.

I'm actually accustomed to doing precision work on other things, I know my way around torque wrenches, calipers, etc.

I think my biggest question is what part of the rear end am I supposed to unbolt at the leaf springs. Last thing I want to do is to eat a leaf spring because I unbolted the wrong spot. If I have the Sub supported by the frame, I guess I just need to put a floor jack under the differential to support it. I just don't know what to unbolt on the leaf springs.

Do I leave them in the shackles and just unbolt the U-bolts where they are attached to the axle?


Guys, I really do appreciate your help, I'm fully aware of how naive I am here. I know I can do this, lol, I just need some pointers on just what to do.

 

[burnhedge]

I usually just cut the ubolts and replace because I live in the rust belt and originals are usually in pretty rough condition.
Just leave the leaf springs in place. They have a bolts running through the center that holds them together.
Unbolt the drive shaft and shocks.
The parking brake cables and brake lines will depend on what you have or want to use on the new rear. Just disconnect them where you need to.
The most difficult part would be if you want to keep your old parking brake cables. You would need to pull the drums to remove them.


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[michael hurd]

I usually just cut the ubolts and replace because I live in the rust belt and originals are usually in pretty rough condition.
Just leave the leaf springs in place. They have a bolts running through the center that holds them together.
Unbolt the drive shaft and shocks.
The parking brake cables and brake lines will depend on what you have or want to use on the new rear. Just disconnect them where you need to.
The most difficult part would be if you want to keep your old parking brake cables. You would need to pull the drums to remove them.


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Pull the cover, remove the C-clips, pull the axles, unbolt the entire backing plate and hang up with a few loops of wire. This way, you install the same backing plates on the replacement axle assembly, and do not have to bleed the brakes.

 

[Cokeman95]

Pull the cover, remove the C-clips, pull the axles, unbolt the entire backing plate and hang up with a few loops of wire. This way, you install the same backing plates on the replacement axle assembly, and do not have to bleed the brakes.

I like this idea

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