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Duramax Suburban - IFS Rebuild

This stuff doesn't just happen. You need to do a root cause analysis and find the true cause.
Don't let this shake your faith in yourself. Make this a teachable moment for the rest of us...:waytogo:
 
Big Ray said:
This stuff doesn't just happen. You need to do a root cause analysis and find the true cause.
Don't let this shake your faith in yourself. Make this a teachable moment for the rest of us...:waytogo:
Click to expand...

If i could get the hub off the egged spindle, i'd pull it apart further. But it's stuck.
 
should have another axle in hand a week from today.

Then it gets to go back together.

In the mean time, its getting cold fast, and i want to park the rest of our cars back in the garage.
 
New axle in my possession.

Next step, reassembly, then taking it to the gear shop for bearings/seals.

I will learn how to do this right, but don't have the time right now to doubt it.
 
Cover off, internals clean, 3.73's and gov lock verified. Now to go through basic brakes and get this thing mounted
 
Was going to leave the junkyard brakes to get it to bearing service, then tear it back apart.

Except the rear parking brakes, you need to rebuild when bearings are apart.

Spent some time online, reading, watching (surprisingly good) videos, etc.

Decided to just order parts and do it all (pads, rotors, calipers, hoses, parking brakes, bearings, seals) myself.

What are the chances I screw this up again? Going to do some serious reading, and give it another go.

Might as well do it right (for less than the cost of having someone do just the bearings).

Tips for setting bearing preload? I normally follow the procedure, but i'm afraid they were too tight.
 
dhcomp said:
Was going to leave the junkyard brakes to get it to bearing service, then tear it back apart.

Except the rear parking brakes, you need to rebuild when bearings are apart.

Spent some time online, reading, watching (surprisingly good) videos, etc.

Decided to just order parts and do it all (pads, rotors, calipers, hoses, parking brakes, bearings, seals) myself.

What are the chances I screw this up again? Going to do some serious reading, and give it another go.

Might as well do it right (for less than the cost of having someone do just the bearings).

Tips for setting bearing preload? I normally follow the procedure, but i'm afraid they were too tight.
Click to expand...


One suggestion I have is put each bearing on prior to putting them in the hubs. Make sure they fit the spindle and you understand how far on they need to slide. I have had some issues with getting the bearings to slide on the spindle and if I didn't know exactly how far they should slide on I would have thought I was good.

Once you are assembling everything put the hub on then the nut and tighten the crap out of it while spinning the hub forward and backward by hand. Then loosen up and tighten it up again really tight. Then loosen it up and just barely tighten it up, you should begin to feel how the bearing preload effects the effort needed to spin the hub. Make it so that there is no movement in the bearing and the hub still spins easy. Set the retaining rings etc. and finish things off.

Then drive it around the block a few times and pull each shaft and check the bearings. Then drive it more and check bearings more, you can check them for play with the wheels on but the shafts out. Basically just ease into longer drives. I think you can leave them looser than you think.
 
Just like said above when you first tighten to hub down crank it down tight, I usually give it all I can with a normal 1/2 inch ratchet. It takes some pressure to seat the hub seal all the way and I think that might be what messed you up before.

Also before putting the hub on give it a generous amount of gear lube, it's going to spill out and make a mess as you're working but it's the only way to make sure they are lubed before driving it.
 
Big Ray said:
This stuff doesn't just happen. You need to do a root cause analysis and find the true cause.
Don't let this shake your faith in yourself. Make this a teachable moment for the rest of us...:waytogo:
Click to expand...

So, i tore down the old axle, removed the backing plate, and beat the hub off with a bfh.

Unfortunatley, there is no tell tale signs. Bearings look fine, hub looks fine.

Symptoms: Wheel was physically loose and crooked when it broke. Shaft snapped, see photos above. Was clearly riding on the shaft for a while, and egged out the spindle.

Only thing i can think of is that the bearings didn't fully seat, and finally moved around enough to start wobbling.

Lock nut and keyway were still in place, but i don't remember how deep the nut was on the spindle.

This side spun way freer than the other side when i put it back together the last (fatal) time. Made me worried about the tighter side.
 
I see lots of late model parking brake parts i wish i had to convert to my old 14B FF. Hope all went well and she back to daily driver status.
 
Going back together smoothly. Really had to pound the hub on to set the seals, i'm guessing this is where i went wrong last time.

Got a reg renewal with smog requirement today. Due by end of year. Thought i had 2 yrs, guess not . Time to roll the die and go talk to a referee.

Should be easy enough, its a legal swap, just hope i get someone on a good day.
 
Slowly but surely. Apparently there are 2 different brake line fitting sizes on the 11.5" rear axle. One is one size, the other is another. Very close, one threads into the other, but not visa versa.

Of course, the ones on the axle i'm using didn't fit the new acdelco lines i bought. Luckily, all the AC delco lines match (left, right, center), so i just swapped the hard lines off the other axle.

Besides that, the delco loaded caliper setups are sweet. Caliper, slide bracket, and pads all ready to go. Suspected that I had a bent bracket, so was glad to see the loaded calipers come with new brackets. I wasn't comfortable on junkyard calipers after all this work, so even though they were a little more expensive, i was happy with the purchase.
 
Brakes are one thing I never skimp on, money spent on good brake hardware is always well spent.
 
So close.....need to bleed brakes, fill rear end....and wait for parts again :(

Didn't double check the rear axle ujoint size. Some are 1410, some are 1480.

Old one was a 1410, new one is a 1480. Conversion joint time. Grrr.
 
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