Chevrolet Silverado 4500HD/5500HD/6500HD Owner Manual (GMNA-
Localizing-U.S.-12102101) - 2019 - crc - 10/2/18
Vehicle Care
349
Caution
To avoid severe transmission
damage, when lifting and towing
the vehicle from the front, be sure
to disconnect the driveshaft at the
rear axle location.
When it is necessary to tow a
vehicle with the front wheels
suspended, extra precautions must
be taken to avoid transmission or
differential damage. Proceed as
follows:
Remove the axle shafts from the
axle assembly to prevent the wheels
from driving the differential and the
transmission. The wheel hub ends
must be covered to prevent loss of
axle lubricant and entrance of
contaminants. If axle shafts are not
removed, removal of propeller
shafts at the rear axle will be
required.
Towing Vehicles with Driver
Controlled Differential Lock
Removing Axle Shafts Before
Towing
Caution
To prevent differential and/or
transmission damage on vehicles
that must be towed to a service
facility with the drive axle wheels
on the ground, it is necessary to
remove the axle shafts before the
vehicle is towed. Failure to heed
this caution may result in vehicle
and/or engine component
damage.
Caution
Do not use a chisel or wedge to
loosen axle shafts and dowels.
The chisel or wedge can damage
hub, axle shafts, and oil seals if
(Continued)
Caution (Continued)
used. Failure to heed this caution
may result in vehicle and/or
engine component damage.
One of the axle shafts has two sets
of splines: one set to engage with
the differential side gear and one
set to engage with the shift collar for
the differential lock. It may be
necessary to rotate the shaft slightly
to align the side gear spline teeth
with the clutch collar teeth in order
to remove the axle shaft.
1. Shift the main differential to the
locked (engaged) position.
2. Remove the cap screws and
washers or stud nuts and
washers from the flanges of
both axle shafts.
3. Loosen the tapered dowels in
the flanges of both axle shafts
by holding a 3.8 cm (1.5 in)
diameter brass drift or hammer
