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Correct part # for 06 H3 rear pinion seal

4speedfunk

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
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4,250
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Tardville
AAM 8.6" Same design as the old-school Corp 10b (now made by AAM). BTW...8.5 and 8.6 are the same axle and use 99% of the same parts. The difference being the pinion seal and the bearings (on some years).

The H3 uses a two-piece seal on the pinion (both front and rear axles). One piece is the traditional type...it gets pressed into the casting. The other piece is called the "sleeve" and it actually gets pressed onto the yoke itself. In the past (60s-90s) when the yoke got a groove in it, you replaced the entire casting. But, with the AAM axles you can now replace the seal surface (the sleeve) instead of replacing the whole yoke casting. They are not always needed, and many times I simply polish the used sleeve with some emery cloth. If you do have serious grooves and you want to replace the sleeve...you have to cut the old one off and press the new one on. Its an easy affair.
You can get the housing seal from AutoZone, NAPA, or PepBoys...but the sleeve is nearly impossible to find anywhere except thru GM or AAM.

Additionally, both front and rear axles use a crush-sleeve on the pinion gear. So once you remove the yoke to change the seal, you lose the pre-load on the bearing. Most text books say to replace the crush sleeve with a new one, anytime you break the yoke loose, and then go thru the entire crush procedure. This involves complete removal of the axle shafts, diff carrier, and pinion gear just to replace a $4.00 crush sleeve...its alot of work. However, most mechanics (including me) will sometimes take a chance and forgo replacing the crush sleeve. I have replaced seals many times on all types of axles without installing a new crush sleeve. You simply have to make sure that you re-torque the pinion nut to the prior position...and usually a c**thair more, (a blonde one). The idea is that you slightly "over-crush" the crush sleeve to regain the preload. There will be no way to properly measure the preload but, I do it by feel. To accurately measure preload, you must remove the ring gear and use an inch-pound torque wrench with a dial indicator. Make sure to use loc-tite on the pinion nut.

I occasionally do this same "over-crush" procedure on high-mileage axles that have lost pinion preload. If you feel "shake" in the pinon bearing...grab a huge pipe wrench, a pinion socket, breaker bar, and cheater bar...and take a pull on the nut. Do it in very small increments, you're just trying to crush the sleeve enough to get rid of the shake. Its not ideal and its not a long-term fix but, this works well and I've had vehicles easily do another 50k miles with just a simple "tighten" of the pinion nut.
 
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