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 im m 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 com pressed air.

INSPECTION

It is very im portant to carefully and thoroughly inspect
all drive unit parts before assembly.
Thorough 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 leaning" in this section.
DIFFERENTIAL
L v
In sp ect
• Pinion gear shaft for unusual wear.
• Pinion gear and side gear teeth for wear, cracks,
scorring, spalling.
• Thrust washers for wear.
• The fit of the differential side gears in the differential
case.
• Fit of the side gear on the axle shafts.
• Differential case for cracks and scorring.
• Replace all worn parts.
PINION AND RING GEAR
J ? In sp ect
Pinion and ring gear teeth for cracking, chipping,
scorring, or excessive wear.
Pinion splines for wear.
Pinion flanges 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 dam age 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 tim e a replacem ent of either is
necessary.

CLEANING AND INSPECTION

T TRUCK FRONT AXLE 4C3-7
BEARINGS
I9
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 ea ring cups fo r wear, cracks, b rin e llin g and
scoring.
• 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 m ileage 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.
THRUST W ASHERS, SHIMS AND
ADJUSTER SLEEVES
I ? Inspect
• Shims and thrust washers for cracks and chips.
Damaged shims should be replaced with an equally
sized service shim.
• Adjuster sleeves for dam aged threads. Replace if
required.
SHIFT MECHANISM
In sp ect (F ig u res 1 and 2)
Carrier connector (9) for damaged splines and
teeth. Replace as required.
Shift fork (17) for wear, scoring, and dam age to
thrust surfaces. Replace if needed.
Sleeve (22) and inner output shaft (23) for damaged
splines and teeth. Replace if necessary.
Spring (16) for breakage.