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Tahoe & SuburbanThe power, space, and brutal towing ability make the Tahoe and its longer sibling, the Suburban, arguably the best full size SUV's on the market today.
Hi just doing a routine fluid change discovered rice size pieces from what appears to be the planetary gear not sure called that, four gears meshing in a circle, the front one. I've attached pics. No noise, seems tight. Any thoughts? Going out soon? Thanks!
Spider Gears. Are you saying they have small chips off them?. That's kind of what it looks like. Did you find any pieces on the bottom or stuck to the magnet?
If you don't see any pieces anywhere and don't see any damage to other gears, either they were installed like that or the pieces dropped safely to the bottom and were removed at some point in the past. If there are no signs of pieces or damage anywhere else, you're probably fine to leave them as is. If it was me, I'd replace them because every time I don't when my gut says I should, not too long after, I'm disassembling sometime again to replace that part my gut said to replace.
If you decide to replace them, they don't require any special setup like the ring and pinion gear. Local parts stores stock spider gear kits For around $140 if you want to replace them now. Online stores have them from $75 and up. If your local store doesn't have them, ask them to check nearby stores or they can have them there by end of day of the next day usually.
To replace, you remove the bolt, pin, the gears and the washers. The kit comes with the pin, gears, washers and bolt so install them in the reverse order. Torque the bolt to spec.
Thanks for your reply! Yes I just changed the fluid tonight and noticed rice size pieces in the drain pain, I used brake cleaner and cleaned out really well. I like your idea of the new spider gears. Thanks again!
Spider Gears. Are you saying they have small chips off them?. That's kind of what it looks like. Did you find any pieces on the bottom or stuck to the magnet?
If you don't see any pieces anywhere and don't see any damage to other gears, either they were installed like that or the pieces dropped safely to the bottom and were removed at some point in the past. If there are no signs of pieces or damage anywhere else, you're probably fine to leave them as is. If it was me, I'd replace them because every time I don't when my gut says I should, not too long after, I'm disassembling sometime again to replace that part my gut said to replace.
If you decide to replace them, they don't require any special setup like the ring and pinion gear. Local parts stores stock spider gear kits For around $140 if you want to replace them now. Online stores have them from $75 and up. If your local store doesn't have them, ask them to check nearby stores or they can have them there by end of day of the next day usually.
To replace, you remove the bolt, pin, the gears and the washers. The kit comes with the pin, gears, washers and bolt so install them in the reverse order. Torque the bolt to spec.
Could you tell me how to determine the right spider gears? Is there a particular brand that is better?
Dear NoCollapsedLifters,
Looks like from the pictures you have a GM 10 bolt AKA GM 8.5/8.6 depends who you talk to. The only difference you will have to worry about is your axle spline count. Its either 28 or 30 spline count on an 07 Tahoe. But for your year you should have 30 spline count axles.
07 Tahoe Rear Diff Pieces of teeth
