Texas82GP's GMT900

Supercharged111

Comic Book Super Hero
Oct 25, 2019
4,908
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Colorado Springs, CO
It has the big "W" shaped spring between the shoes. It wasn't fun to work on the first time but now I have the correct tool for it so hopefully next time will be better. I really prefer drum brakes on the rear so the answer is probably to just keep tightening them every 10k miles or so. I think part of the reason I burned through the last set of front pads so fast was that I was lazy about keeping the rears adjusted tight so the fronts were doing all the work. It may get a rear brake job this year. If not this one, then next for sure.

Yeah, I drove the truck around the block last night to see how they were aimed as I knew I'd be coming home from work in the dark tonight. The improvement is dramatic. I'm looking forward to having headlights tonight. Based on the ride home, I'll adjust them if needed but they looked good, right out of the box last night. I still prefer the smoked look but I don't think it is worth all the negative trade offs at this point. Thanks for the compliment. I've tried to keep it up. I haven't done as well as I should with the wax and it has taken it's toll on the hood and roof. Hopefully it will be parking in the garage at the new house before the end of the year.

I had all of these problems. I've had a few sets but the latest driver's side assembly I put on the truck after the wreck is the worst. The GM assemblies fit like a glove. Changing these is not that much fun. You have to remove the grill and the bumper cover. It's not that bad, but it's a bit of a pain if all you want to do is change a light bulb. Terrible design!

No, it came from the factory with a paper gasket. I've never seen the rubber gasket. I guess a reusable gasket wouldn't be a bad thing but I just got irritated that I couldn't get a paper gasket that day, upon request. In the end, I found the part number and the first place I had gone to earlier, NAPA, had it all along. Their database just didn't call for it. I still ended up paying $15 for a paper gasket. Ridiculous!

I'm not sure if the 9.5" diff came with drums or not in those trucks. It did in the GMT400 trucks and it's great because the brakes adjust themselves the way they're supposed to. Just another excuse to upgrade something else. I test drove a 2012ish Sierra Denali 1500 with the 6.2 and it had the 9.5" diff. NHT Max Trailering Package trucks got them too.
 
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Streetbu

Know it all, that doesn't
Supporting Member
May 22, 2011
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Central NY
I'm not sure if the 9.5" diff came with drums or not in those trucks. It did in the GMT400 trucks and it's great because the brakes adjust themselves the way they're supposed to. Just another excuse to upgrade something else. I test drove a 2012ish Sierra Denali 1500 with the 6.2 and it had the 9.5" diff. NHT Max Trailering Package trucks got them too.
I've been looking at half tons and really wanted the max trailer package. Evidently the Sales managers that place the orders don't think anyone does. One didn't even know what the package was. 🤦
The only reason I wanted it was for the larger rear-end. I don't need it for towing. I don't plan on ever towing that much.
 

Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
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113
Spring, Texas
20220124_090337_copy_2016x1512.jpg


Not really a big deal but a milestone nonetheless. It had 2 or 3 miles on it when I bought it new in March of 2008.

The headlights are a huge upgrade. I went two turns down on each side from the out of the box adjustment and they are great.

I have all the stuff to change the gear oil in the rear axle, flush the brakes and flush the power steering system. I just haven't dedicated the time to do the work yet. Those projects are next on the agenda for it.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
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201,011 on the clock. Sean and I got the brake hydraulic system flushed yesterday. It went pretty smooth except for the huge mess I made on the right rear when the hose came off the bleeder, a few times. Before....

20220219_085344_copy_2016x1512.jpg


After...

20220219_110023_copy_2016x1512.jpg


My cleanup job won't win any awards but it is better than it was.

We also changed the oil in the rear axle. This took longer than anticipated since Mr. Silicon was the last one to work on it....

20220219_110218_copy_1008x756.jpg


This must have happened when I had it serviced in late 2016, when I was in poor health before having about a foot of my colon removed.

It took a long time to clean up the cover, the housing and the bolts. Now it's assembled with no sealant. Only the correct gasket.

There wasn't much metal on the magnet...

20220219_110058_copy_2016x1512.jpg


It's a gov-bomb that I think is broken so I expected it to look worse. I just need it to last until we have a shop and a lift. Maybe 30-40 thousand more miles. Then I'll rebuild it myself with a better differential. I found more metal in the Roadmaster's rear axle so I feel ok with it.

I wanted to flush the power steering yesterday as well but by the time we finished the rear, the long shadows and my back both said it was a bad idea to start on it then so that will have to wait for another day.

I recently had an evap code with it. P0442 - slow leak. I initially chalked it up to not tightening the gas cap. I reset it but around three weeks later it came back.

My gas cap was original. It's yellow as the truck was flex fuel when new. That's been tuned out of it so I went ahead and bought a black AC Delco cap.

The o-ring on the original cap was a bit flat looking so hopefully the new cap does the trick. I also did a detail clean on the filler neck while I was at it. I always clean the area behind the fuel door when I wash it, but it was a little dirty under the cap. Hopefully that's all it needed but we'll see.

I guess that's it for now friends.
 
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motorheadmike

Geezer
Nov 18, 2009
8,976
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Saskatchewan, Truckistan
201,011 on the clock. Sean and I got the brake hydraulic system flushed yesterday. It went pretty smooth except for the huge mess I made on the right rear when the hose came off the bleeder, a few times. Before....

View attachment 192752

After...

View attachment 192753

My cleanup job won't win any awards but it is better than it was.

We also changed the oil in the rear axle. This took longer than anticipated since Mr. Silicon was the last one to work on it....

View attachment 192754

This must have happened when I had it serviced in late 2016, when I was in poor health before having about a foot of my colon removed.

It took a long time to clean up the cover, the housing and the bolts. Now it's assembled with no sealant. Only the correct gasket.

There wasn't much metal on the magnet...

View attachment 192755

It's a gov-bomb that I think is broken so I expected it to look worse. I just need it to last until we have a shop and a lift. Maybe 30-40 thousand more miles. Then I'll rebuild it myself with a better differential. I found more metal in the Roadmaster's rear axle so I feel ok with it.

I wanted to flush the power steering yesterday as well but by the time we finished the rear, the long shadows and my back both said it was a bad idea to start on it then so that will have to wait for another day.

I recently had an evap code with it. P0442 - slow leak. I initially chalked it up to not tightening the gas cap. I reset it but around three weeks later it came back.

My gas cap was original. It's yellow as the truck was flex fuel when new. That's been tuned out of it so I went ahead and bought a black AC Delco cap.

The o-ring on the original cap was a bit flat looking so hopefully the new cap does the trick. I also did a detail clean on the filler neck while I was at it. I always clean the area behind the fuel door when I wash it, but it was a little dirty under the cap. Hopefully that's all it needed but we'll see.

I guess that's it for now friends.

My TBSS has the same intermittent gas cap code, usually on really cold days, I just let it cycle itself away.
 

Supercharged111

Comic Book Super Hero
Oct 25, 2019
4,908
7,670
113
Colorado Springs, CO
What did the diff itself look like? I went 70k on dino oil on my 1500.

IMG_20200226_174131.jpg


Apparently that's too much. It cleaned up though

IMG_20200226_185823.jpg


Seeing how my dually did not, it makes me wonder how horribly it was neglected. Both trucks are now full of Royal Purple. I'm curious if GM gave your truck metal backed reusable rubber diff gasket?
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
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Spring, Texas
What did the diff itself look like? I went 70k on dino oil on my 1500.

View attachment 192758

Apparently that's too much. It cleaned up though

View attachment 192757

Seeing how my dually did not, it makes me wonder how horribly it was neglected. Both trucks are now full of Royal Purple. I'm curious if GM gave your truck metal backed reusable rubber diff gasket?
No, it came stock with a thick paper gasket and that's how I put it back. When I took it apart, no gasket.

I'm estimating 70-75k miles since the last time it was serviced. I'm sure I have the receipt but my back is really tight right now so I'm not in a place to start digging in the filing cabinet.

I didn't take a picture of the diff while the cover was off. It definately had a film of "dirt" or dirty oil on it. Just touching it would wipe it away, similar to how the flanges on the cover bolts wiped it from the cover in the pic above. It wasn't nearly as dark as your pic and I didn't do anything about cleaning it. I just gave it a quick visual inspection and it all looked ok so I went with it. I think it had synthetic in it and that's what I put back. The service manual calls for synthetic oil in it.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
113
Spring, Texas
I forgot to mention, I discovered the boot on the lower intermediate steering shaft split open so I ordered a boot kit, the CV Joint clamp pliers and the pin tool for the steering column.
 
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DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
8,062
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*CENSORED*
If that P0442 persists, look in the direction of the tank pressure sensor. We replaced a lot of those. Mainly on GMT800s, but yours is reaching that age now.
 
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