How to Replace Rear Differential Cover 2000-06 GMC Yukon

Now, I removed the spare tire. You don't need to, but it gives you a little extra room and I need to remove this bar from this side. I'm gonna take this bolt out and there's a nut on the other side. So, use a 21-millimeter wrench or 13/16, and a 21-millimeter socket. Take this out. I'm just gonna use a pry bar to pry this out. And if it's in your way, just use a bungee cord. Just get that out of the way. Some of these bolts are pretty rusty, so just use a wire brush, try to get some of the rust off.

It's always a good idea before you remove the cover, especially if you have to reuse it to pull the fill plug out first just to make sure you're able to because if this fill plug is stuck in there, you're not gonna be able to add fluid. And just use a extension and you might have to use a screwdriver to clean anything out. Just use a pocket screwdriver, clean some of the rust out. Take a hammer, tap it in there. And take this out. I'm gonna take a 13-millimeter socket and extension. Because these are rusty, I'm gonna hammer these on a little bit. And loosen this up. This one has the brake line bracket, just grab that. You can just pull that out of the way a little bit. Try to get some of that extra rust off there.

Now, I'll take these all out. Make sure you have a drain bucket underneath because you're gonna wanna catch the fluid. All those bolts are out except for the top one, it's just a little loose. Just take a pry bar or a screwdriver and just slowly pry the cover out. Let the fluid drain in your drain bucket. Take that top bolt out. And grab the cover and just slide it off. All right. And you're gonna take a razor blade or a scraper and just scrape off the old gasket material. Do this on the housing and then if you're gonna reuse your old cover, you wanna scrape it off the cover as well. You could also use a scuff pad to try to clean some of that up and then just use some brake parts cleaner on a rag to wipe it down.

Now, take the cover. We have a new cover that we're putting on. Just line the gasket up like that. There's a bigger part of the gasket that goes on the ring side. Slide the cover in place and get all the bolts started. And make sure you pull this bracket over. I'm gonna torque these bolts to 30 foot-pounds. And we're gonna do that clockwise, so go right around. All right. Take this bungee cord down and slide this bar back in position. Take the bolt, line the bolt up. You might have to pry the whole axle over a little bit. Right there. There we go. Take the nut. Put the nut on the backside. And tighten this up. Put the wrench in the backside. Get that good and snug. Take a 10-millimeter hex bit and loosen up this fill plug. This new cover had the fill plug on it or you could always go to the fill plug that's on the differential. If you loosened that one up earlier, make sure you tighten that up. Take that off. If you have a rear limited-slip differential, you're gonna wanna add limited-slip fluid additive. And if you're not sure, it doesn't hurt to add some anyway. But you always put that in first. And a lot of times a lot of the fluids have the additive already in it, but it's always good to add a little extra anyway. And you're gonna fill up the rear differential till the fluid starts pouring out of the fill hole. To determine what kind of fluid, you can always check your owner's manual.

Yep, and you wanna make sure the fluid is right up to the bottom of the fill hole. Normally, plug it off for a minute. And double-check. Yeah. That's right up there. Let that drip out for a sec. Now, take the fill plug, get that started. Make sure the gasket is on there. And snug this up. That's good. And take a rag, just wipe off the excess. If you have a little underneath, use a little brake parts cleaner. That's good.