2002 Chevrolet Silverado Rear Diff?

BRYAN3097

MEMBER
2002 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
6.3L
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
160,000 MILES

Driving home from work- rear wheels lock up. (25mph on dirt rd.) Stop, inspect. Nothing. Put in reverse, throttle- vehicle budges. Stop. Put in Drive, little throttle- PING! Stop- inspect- hole in rear diff cover- green liquid coming out. **Side note- I replaced rear diff cover and put new fluid in it twice (first seal on diff cover wasn't good, had to re- do.) About 2 months ago. Fluid was not green in color when adding it in.

So my question is- wtf happened and how can I get it home- or to an area where a flat bed tow truck can get to it?

What do I need to replace? Bout how much?

(NOT A MECHANIC, so break it down Barney style.)

7 Replies

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

Disconnect drive shaft and see if flat bed can get to it or a wrecker or even a chain and have someone pull it. Replace whole axle. Get one out of a junkyard. Look on lh side of front tube for correct gear ratio of one you take out.

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Saturday, November 7th, 2015 AT 6:41 AM

BRYAN3097

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4 POSTS

If I take off the rear drive shaft- would I be able to lock in 4wd so the front end works- or would that cause more damage?

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Saturday, November 7th, 2015 AT 10:05 AM

HMAC300

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48,601 POSTS

Ya you could do that to get it off the dirt road but I wouldn't drive it very far make sure rear shaft is completely out though at least to center support if you have that set up and it comes off there.

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Saturday, November 7th, 2015 AT 11:20 AM

BRYAN3097

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4 POSTS

Hey- so yesterday (Wednesday) I was able to get a ride to my truck. Unbolted the punctured rear diff cover- there were small gears in there- one was completely in tact, the other one was in pieces. There are other components that are all messed up and broken. So I cleared all the missing parts out of the diff housing- bolted the cover back on to keep dirt out- put in neutral- and was able to pull my truck. (The broken small gear was wedged to make the big gear not spin).

So I have a 2002 Chev Silv. 1500 5.3ltr. 4X4 LS.

I dot know the names of the parts- I'm on Oreiley's website and in the rear differential section. Yet I don't know what all I need. Want to get the most iportant things repaired so I can get back to work- and replace others when I can.

Since the wheels were able to turn freely in neutral- I don't think anything else was broken- is there a way I can send you pictures?

My email is: rockstar3097@yahoo. Com

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Thursday, November 12th, 2015 AT 10:26 AM

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

Your cheapest option is to do what I said in the reply replace the whole axle, because form your latest reply you are talking about a new gear set all the bearings and possible a diff carrier. Which will make this cost prohibitive to rebuild it as you'll need someone to do that for you. Where if you replace the whole axle from a junkyard is much cheaper. You will have to make sure to get the same gear ratio as the one you have as the front and rear are matched gear wise. Otherwise you end up with tcase problems. Like I said inprevious reply the gear ratio is stamped on front of tube.