96 Suburban Differential

[keefus71]

I just bought 96 4x4 Suburban. It has a 6" rough country lift on it but I have differential question. The old guy I got it from didn't know anything about the truck, he had traded a tractor for it to use on his deer lease. The rear tires seem to be skipping in slow tight turns which made me think it had a Posi in it. A friend suggested drain the fluid and refill but add some limited slip additive cuz if the prior owner didn't it could cause the skipping. Did that over the weekend but when I pulled the cover the differential has been worked on I noticed the driver side caps had new bolts on it but not on the passenger side. Also I didn't see any spider gears at all. I didn't take any pics, wish I had now. But any idea of what type of rear I have? I dont do alot of off roading and the tire chirping is driving me nuts. I wanna say it has a locker in it but it had a wide opening in the middle of the carrier where I would have seen spider gears but nothing. No springs, nada.

 

[paratrooper307]

Without a picture it's going to be tough to tell. From the sounds of it, you could have a locker. If you post up a photo of the carrier, I'm sure we could tell you what it has.

 

[dyeager535]

They still have the RPO's on a sticker in the glove box?

G80 that year I assume was still the Gov-lock.

1/2 or 3/4 ton should help narrow down axle, but only three choices AFAIK, 8.5/8.625; 14 bolt SF; 14 bolt FF. I believe there is even a link in the tech section here that shows what the housings look like for all three of them.

If half ton with G80, probably a screwed up gov-lock. Pretty common on the smaller axles.

 

[keefus71]

did some research and it has a mini spool in it. Never even heard of it before. I don't need the rear locked at all times. If I take it out will I just need to replace the spider gears and washers?

 

[sweetk30]

if open diff with mini spool easy fix.

pull mini spool .

buy spider kit new or if you realy want used ( dont recomend on 10 bolt rears with all the problems thay have ) .

then install seal up and fill with oil .

next sell the mini spool for some money back