AWD Denali front end noise

DirtyBlackHoe

Bun B, Baracca, Beezer
Jan 24, 2011
1,068
258
83
Thomasville, GA
Well I have a 2004 Yukon Denali that seems to have the dreaded front end noise associated with carrier bearings going out. I called a few shops and they want between 600-950 to replace all the bearings in the front end and that just seems insane to me. I was wondering what was the normal going price to have this done. I also thought about buying a used differential and swapping it in, but a used AWD case is not cheap so here is my thought:

Can I just buy a 4wd front diff and swap out the passenger axle tube from my AWD diff to it and run it? Is there anything that I should replace while it is apart? Just wanting to make sure I have the right idea. I can get a 2001 diff with the correct gears out of a z71 for 275...
 
I would guess they are not the same, have you looked at car-part.com to see if you can source the exact part you need?