Cleaning And Inspection; Cleaning; Inspection - Chevrolet 1988 Light Duty Truck Repair Manual

CLEANING

• Do not steam clean drive parts having ground and
polished surfaces such as gears, bearings, and
shafts. These parts should be cleaned in a suitable
solvent. All parts should be disassem bled before
cleaning.
• Parts should be thoroughly dried imm ediately after
cleaning. Use soft, clean, lintless rags. Parts may be
dried with compressed air. Do not allow the bearings
to spin while drying them with compressed air.

INSPECTION

It is very im portant to carefully and thoroughly inspect
all drive unit parts before assem bly
Through inspection of the drive parts for wear or stress
and subsequent replacem ent of worn parts will elim inate
costly drive com ponent repair after reassembly
AXLE HOUSING
Inspect
• Carrier bore for nicks or burrs that would prevent the
outer diam eter of the pinion seal from sealing.
Remove any burrs that are found.
• Bearing cup surfaces for nicks or burrs. Remove
any burrs that are found.
• Housing for cracks. Replace the housing if any
cracks are found.
• Housing for foreign material such as metal chips,
dirt, or rust. Refer to " C le aning" in this section.
DIFFERENTIAL
1 3
Inspect
Pinion gear shaft for unusual wear.
Pinion gear and side gear teeth for wear, cracks,
scoring, and spading.
Thrust washers for wear.
Fit of the differential side gears in the differential
case.
Fit of the side gears on the axle shafts.
Differential case for cracks and scorring.
Replace all worn parts.

CLEANING AND INSPECTION

/ -INCH RING GEAR 4C1-5
8 1 2
PINION AND RING GEAR
• Inspect
Pinion and ring gear teeth for cracking, chipping,
scorring, or excessive wear.
Pinion splines for wear.
Pinion flange splines for wear.
Fit of the pinion on the pinion flange.
Sealing surface of the pinion flange for nicks, burrs,
or rough tool marks which would cause damage to
the seals' inside diam eter and result in an oil leak.
Replace all worn or broken parts.
Ring and pinion gears are matched sets and are
both replaced any time a replacem ent of either is
necessary.
BEARINGS
Inspect
Bearings visually and by feel. The bearings should
feel smooth when oiled and rotated while applying
as much hand pressure as possible.
The large end of the bearing rollers for wear. This is
where tapered roller bearing wear is most evident.
B e a rin g cups for wear, cracks, b rin e llin g and
scorring.
Bearings and cups are only replaced as sets.
If the front axle was operated for an extended period
of time with very loose bearings, the ring gear and
drive pinion will also require replacement.
Low mileage bearings may have minute scratches
and pits on the rollers and the bearing cups from the
initial preload. Do not replace a bearing for this
reason.
Bearing caps for cracks or chips.
SHIMS
Inspect
Shims for cracks and chips. Damaged shims should
be replaced with an equally sized service shim.