Truck Rear End Help

[2kz71]

I have a 2000 Z71 Tahoe w/ 161,000 miles. I've never had any problems w/ it until recently. I just bought a 2003 Hydra Sports Vector 2600. I Love It, but she is fairly heavy. My Tahoe pulls it ok & it stops it ok but now my pinion seal is leaking. I had it replaced & now it's leaking again. Is it possible that the rear end is rolling forward while under a load & causing the pinion seal to leak? Has anyone else ever run into this? I am a better than average mechanic, but I've never run into this before. In a perfect world I'd buy a Chevy 2500 HD, but I can't, I just bought a boat. If this is the problem would a set of 2500 leaf springs help?

Any help is appreciated. I've got to get this fixed, I just hate it when my rear end leaks...

[165Striper]

My guess would be that either the mechanic got a bad seal, bunged up a good seal on the install, or your pinion nut is loose. The loose pinion nut happened to me on my F-150 at 40K (4k past warranty, of course!)

[Altamaha]

Could also be a scored or worn area on the pinion shaft where the seal runs.

And, if the pinion has a crusher sleeve on the shaft, that requires a lot of torque on the pinion nut to "set" for proper bearing clearance, could be a problem. Most times this type of sleeve must be replaced when the rear end is worked on. Takes a lot of torque to tighten the nut properly, if not torqued correctly, the nut will loosen and the yoke will work on the pinion shaft, causing leaking and wear.

I would take the Tahoe to a shop that specializes in rear ends, not just the average mechanic. They would have the proper tools for correct repairs. How many average joe mechanics have a 500 ft-lb torque wrench? Or a pinion depth measurement tool?

[autobaun70]

Given the recent work, my guess is that the initial leak was age related, and the followup leak is a faulty install or bad seal. If you need help to get the rear end up, I would go with air bags rather than springs, you can add air to them when you are going to be towing. You can set them up with an onboard compressor, or simply run the air lines to your rear bumper, and put a schrader valve there and fill it up with a tire pump. Even a cheap 12V pump that you plug into your cig. lighter is more than enough to pump them up quickly.

[billinstuart]

Don't forget the wheel bearings themselves on the small trucks are not the greatest. GM uses the axle as the inner race. Maybe you simply need more truck.

[rchanner]

Probably good advice given above w/ regard to the leak....with regard to beefing up the leaf springs, I wouldn't do it- your ride will suffer. I'd try a weight distribution hitch-instead of beefing up the truck for tongue weight, just lower the tongue weight and relieve the weight on the springs....they are very common for travel trailers.

The one thing I'm not sure of is how well it would handle the steep transition as you go from flat ground to the boat ramp, so I'd ask a professional about that- it would probably just be a matter of releasing the tension bars before launching if anything, though.

Weight distribution hitch link

[2kz71]

Thanks for the help.

More truck would be great, but w/ the new boat note I don't have enough $ for a new truck note too.

I don't care for air bags but have considered putting in some 2500 springs.

I will look into the weight distribution hitch too.

Thanks again.