front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

[Captain Morgan]

ok for those who dont know, im still out in KC, my truck is currently on jackstands in a barn and the front diff got dropped off at a shop this morning.

I just got off the phone with the dude and he said along with the bearings which we expected to be bad, there are these 2 adjusters in there that have retaining clips.

Well my retaining clips are sheered off, however the problem is, according to GM, you cannot just order these clips seperate, to get them you need to buy the adjusters and the clips together as a set and thus driving the price to like $100 for each......but the damn adjuster is the expensive part, the clip is probably like :2cents:.

So, does anyone know if its possible to get these damn retaining clips seperate, either through GM or aftermarket??

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

oh yeah, and if all else fails, what do I need to do to allow my truck to run 2WD? do I just need to remove the propshaft and take the CV axles apart and just leave outer part attached to the hub??

 

[MikeRenz]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

morgan, i could take the diff off my shell and ship it out to you if you need

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

morgan, i could take the diff off my shell and ship it out to you if you need

thanks, but unless you can get it here by tomorrow, it wont do me much good :tup:

im giving the shop till 2 pm tomorrow to find these clips, if they cant, ill be making my Ty 2WD

 

[syclonekid43]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

that sucks,but on another note. you need to take the axle apart. all you need is the piece of the axle that bolts to the hub. if you do not put that part back in your wheel will fall of. good luck getting the clips.

 

[Junior1]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Sorry to hear about the mess Morgan, if theres anything I can do from NY let me know, call my cell/email/post message...

Got any part numbers, I'll do some leg work?
also did you check a junk yard down there ? maybe same part off an S10?

 

[skata]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

weld new tabs on the clips.

or go to a junkyard and get a diff and swap out the whole thing or just rob parts.

running in 2wd might not be good for the viscous coupler.

 

[bigtime]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Morgan, you should be able to buy a yard front diff for $250.00 Probably cheaper than trying to fix that one in a hurry. If the shop who is working on it never did a front s-10 one you might be in bigger trouble having them try to fix it. If you drive it home without the front shaft in put some thicker fluid in the transfer case instead of the thin GM fluid.
Good luck

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

that sucks,but on another note. you need to take the axle apart. all you need is the piece of the axle that bolts to the hub. if you do not put that part back in your wheel will fall of. good luck getting the clips.

and take the CV axles apart and just leave outer part attached to the hub??

:cough: thats what I said :lol: :tup:

Sorry to hear about the mess Morgan, if theres anything I can do from NY let me know, call my cell/email/post message...

Got any part numbers, I'll do some leg work?
also did you check a junk yard down there ? maybe same part off an S10?

i dont have any part numbers, the dude at the shop did, however like i said above, the dealer he called said they dont sell the tabs seperately and they dont even have the "set" of parts that includes the retainers in stock.

weld new tabs on the clips.

or go to a junkyard and get a diff and swap out the whole thing or just rob parts.

running in 2wd might not be good for the viscous coupler.

they arent clips, they are retainers, id have better luck making new tabs out of some metal from Home Depot, but being that im 1200 miles from home and dont have access or know anyone with a machine shop, making, welding or anything of the sort is not an option.

We've called a few local yards, there is only 1 yard that has a 4x4 S-Series with the part I can use, but its from a 2000 Blazer and Im not quite sure if it will swap over.

running in 2wd might not be good for the viscous coupler, but then again it might not and then again I really dont care anymore either :lol:

Morgan, you should be able to buy a yard front diff for $250.00 Probably cheaper than trying to fix that one in a hurry. If the shop who is working on it never did a front s-10 one you might be in bigger trouble having them try to fix it. If you drive it home without the front shaft in put some thicker fluid in the transfer case instead of the thin GM fluid.
Good luck

if I could find one, i would.

what kinda of thicker fluid would I put in? it normally uses Dex III Tranny fluid, which is hydraulic, i cant just go putting in oil or gear oil, that would surely do more damage.

 

[bigtime]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

what kinda of thicker fluid would I put in? it normally uses Dex III Tranny fluid, which is hydraulic, i cant just go putting in oil or gear oil, that would surely do more damage.

Actually it won't, the problem comes from the viscous coupler slipping. If you put thicker fluid in it it won't slip so it won't heat up. Only problem is youll have to do a bunch of changes to get it all out.

 

[BigBadSmoosh]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

btw, is anyone else as impressed with morgan's ability to troubleshoot and find the problem as I am/was..

I mean all he heard was a squeak, and in 30min he was able to tell exactly what was wrong.
Hopefully it will get fixed and there won't be any more problems. good luck.

 

[crazykaese]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Morgan - I have a spare transfer case from a Syclone that you can use when you get back if you need it. I can drop it off at your place this weekend since I'll be down your way. I know it won't do you any good right now but it'll get you back up and running again a soon as you get home if you fry yours on the trip home. I know the splines are different but I can get the driveshaft for it, too. Let me know dude.

 

[dourtyb]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Morgan....Call me...if we have too we can pull the clips out of my front diff to get you home and work out the rest of the details later.

 

[myclone]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

I'll kick in a offer to help if I can since Ive got the front half of an S10 blazer that Im using for the header mock up and it still has the diff in it. Dunno what ratio it is but I can prolly rob some parts out/off of it if you need them and ship them. If your pressed for time I need to know asap so I can go drag it out of the woods, get my truck out of the garage, and yank the diff out of the half-a-blazer.

BTW, you can run without a front prop shaft for eons without hurting the xfer case as long as your not putting max power through it. Also the viscous coupling is a SEALED unit and does not share ANY fluid wih the gearing in the xfer case so adding anything to the xfer case from water to beer isnt going to make a single difference to the viscous unit itself as its internals arent exposed to the xfer case fluid.

Anyways, to disconnect the front wheels and keep the front axles internal components from turning to get you home youll need to either take the front axles/outter CV joints apart and use the outer hub (the one the big nut goes on) or get yourself two bone yard axles to hack up to do the same. Reinstall front components minus the inner portion of the axles, remove front prop shaft and youre done.

If I can help with parts give me a call on my cel at 540-580-4046. If I dont answer call back/leave a voice message since Im out in the garage making lotsa racket changing rear springs on the syclone so I may not hear the phone the first time.

 

[Typhoonracer]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Morgan,

I have the guts of my front diff in a corner of the garage (rebuilt it), I will look for the clips but I dont think they will get there in a day...

Steve

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Dave, Steve, thanks for the offers, but like I told Gabe and Brain, its just WAY too much work to get them out, but I appreciate it.

I just got off the phone with some other guy at the shop, who said the guy ive been dealing with got the parts around 1:30 and it should be done later today. I hope to god this guy found just the retainers cause if he bought everything else with them (that i dont need), im gonna be pissed.

but with any luck, my turbo turd should be back in one piece by tomorrow.

 

[GMCSyclone1]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

All of this just to win the broken truck award we didn't expect for you to go this far. Since your putting in overtime on this one I guess that automatically makes you a nominee for next years nats. Seriously hope you get everything worked out. Goodluck!

 

[CAMSTY]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Anyone know what happend? Did he get the retaining clips? He shoulda been home by now though, unless hearded over to the S-Series Nationals in St Louis this weekend.

 

[GMCSyclone1]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

Yea I've been wondering if Morgan ever made it home. Any word?

 

[crazykaese]

Re: front diff part help, ASAP (do not move)

I stopped by Morgan's house this afternoon and talked to his mom. He's still not home. Apparently, the guyz that tried to fix his front diff didn't do it right and it broke again. He made it near St Louis and I guess met up with some other SyTy guyz and they helped convert him to 2wd to get him back on the road. He SHOULD be rolling into town tomorrow afternoon/evening sometime if all goes well. I'll stop by his place tomorrow again to see if I can get an update.

The saga continues...........