Hi everyone,

I'm preparing to replace the differential cover on my '02 4dr 4x4 push button blazer. I would like to replace the bolts with stainless. This is my only means of transportation so pulling one bolt and driving to the hardware store isn't exactly an option. Does anyone have any idea what length and thread sizes the bolts are? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

just pull the very top one out youll be fine. heck if the cover has never been off you can probably pull them all off itll be glued shut.

but seriously you can get away with just taking one out of the top with no problems at all

 

I would have to assume they are metric bolts.

I will have to do this eventually as my cover is a little wet. It is not dripping but still wet. The fluid in the rear is still almost full so I have some time before it needs to be done.

I saw that the top bolt was a little loose so I went to tighten it and realized some one tried this before and stripped it. There is a newer SAE bolt in it with two lock washers. It looks like it may only be the bolt that is stripped, for now. Hopefully this is the case. I am not looking forward to retapping the thing on my back. At least it is fairly easy to get to.

Please post up what you find out.

 

To touch upon what both of you have said, I had considered removing the top bolt. Though I'm not crazy about the idea, it may be the only option. My cover is actually pretty bad. It has been wet since I have owned the car for the past 2 years. It is now starting to drip so I'd like to tackle this before I burn out my differential. The replacement cover I got is from Rockauto DORMAN Part # 697701 http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,2306

 

Put a thin layer of RTV on the differential cover put the gasket on and let cure for 10 or so minutes. This will help hold the gasket in place when installing it and aid in the sealing of it.

Using just RTV is not suggested, use the supplied gasket as well.