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.
Texas82GP's GMT900
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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.
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.
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....
After...
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....
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...
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.
After...
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....
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...
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.
What did the diff itself look like? I went 70k on dino oil on my 1500.
Apparently that's too much. It cleaned up though
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?
Apparently that's too much. It cleaned up though
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.
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.
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.
