A local dealer had 2 p/n's listed. One is a 2 peice and the other is a 1 peice. I think that GM redesigned something in the rear end, so the 01 and later 7.5'' 10 bolts use a slightly different seal. I wonder which is which?

 

A 2 piece pinion seal??? Are ya sure they didn't confuse "rear" seal with "rear MAIN seal" (ie: engine) and they're showing a 2 piece or a 1 piece??

AFAIK, the pinion seal is, and always was, a 1 piece?? But I've been wrong before.

 

The easiest way to tell the difference is measure the diameter of the seal at it's widest point...the non-triple lipped(one piece) seal is approx. 2 15/16" across...the triple lipped(which they refer to as a two piece seal...has something to do with the way in which it is manufactured...metal and rubber pressed together...or something along those lines...anyways) seal is approx. 3 5/16" across...should be able to eyeball it on the car to determine which you have...hope this helps...

 

thanks for the replies guys!

After some research, and using a couple of different parts websites I figured out that there are 2 different part numbers.

part #: 26026792 is the pinion seal for for the f-bodies and other cars with the 7.5'' 10-bolt from 1980-1999.

part #: 12471523 is the pinion seal for 2000+ 7.5'' 10-bolts.

Apparently GM thought it would be funny to change the seal. Unfortunately the seal I purchased was one of the 1999 and earlier seals, so I have to exchange it. I wonder why a GM dealer didn't have their database up to date on this information? Kind of scary. I assume the this seal would probably fit, but not well. So if you went in to get the seal replaced, they might end up using the wrong seal. Not good. Because any damage due to lack of lubrication, voids any part warranties. If your rear-end grenades because all of the lube leaked out, then apparently it isn't their fault. Their argument is, it didnt grenade because of the seal that they installed, it grenaded because of the lack of lubrication as a result of the seal failing . This exact thing has happened to a friend of mine in my car club here in Memphis. That is a true story. He faught back and forth between the dealer and the extended warranty company, and he ended up just having to pay to get it rebuilt.