As long as it says on the tube of RTV that you used.

Yeah...depends on if you used the black, the red, the grey...or the quickset.

If you threw away the tube already...then just wait an hour or so.

1 hr dry. 24 hr cure. I ended up just putting it in. I think I waited 45 minutes. It was dark, and I needed to finish up the job. I'll check in the morning for any leaks. Blew out the vent on the rear axle too.

Man...I'm sore lol.

Continuous Bead. RTV 1/8 inch thick


I've heard of jacks kicking out in the same situation.

If I was doing that at work I'm sure somebody would be fired.

I never waited on my car... but then now if I really think about it. I never put RTV. I'm pretty sure I cleaned it up real well, and just tightened the bolts in a criss-cross pattern for a nice seal. No leaks.

For my Valve covers I let the RTV sit for 15 mins before I completely torqued er down. Build a skin g'know!

Well, the manual says it must be applied within 15 minutes. I'm sure there was a little wait time on it because it took some time to put the stuff all the way around. I'm think, I'm ok?

The wait time is the time you should wait before exposing it to gear oil (or water or whatever it is the gasket is sealing against). Pretty sure you don't need to wait to put the diff cover on the diff.

1. RTV on diff cover
2. diff cover to diff
3. wait 1 hour
4. add gear oil

It clearly says, "NOTE: Axle housing cover must be installed within 15 minutes of application of the silicone rubber or new silicone rubber must be applied."

Doesn't talk about a wait time for the RTV to be installed. The next step is to add the lubricant after the housing cover is torqued down. I think I'm fine since I wait roughly 40-45 minutes before I added everything. Plus, I live in Florida.

Exactly. RTV stands for Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone. RTV and silicone rubber are the same thing, I've just heard it's best to let the RTV/silicone rubber cure a bit (meaning after assembling the axle and cover) before adding the gear oil.

That said, I was in a hurry and only waited about 30 minutes before adding the oil, and I haven't had any leaks or anything, so you're probably fine.

Yea, did the same thing. It was 10pm and I needed to go somewhere lol. Thanks for your help!!!

While changing my gear oil I decided to inspect the differential. I get a slight clunk when I go from reverse to drive or drive to reverse. Ujoints? No play in the driveshaft but I did notice play in the spider gears. How much play is allowed in the spider gears? With the whole rear end jacked up, I can rotate one tire and feel the play when I rotate it the opposite way. I can kinda see the play in the spider gears themselves.

I think the clunk is normal...i guess it depends on how much youre talking about. I've only ever had vehicles that aren't limited slip...might be different with LS? As long as there aren't chunks of metal in the gear oil, I'd say you don't have much to worry about.

I don't think that the RTV curing is as important with the rear because it's not under pressure like the cooling system or the crankcase.

Yeah...I accidentally bought the red RTV instead of the black...so I was a little worried that the gear oil would prevent it from drying properly, since it wasn't the "maximum oil resistance." Haven't had any problems though.

As an aside, apparently permatex now makes an RTV tube specifically for gear oil and differentials.