[BigRandy]

I'll explain it the best I can how I got where I am.

During a 30 minute to the Lowe's I noticed something didn't sound right. It was very faint so I wasn't even sure if I was hearing it for the first time or if it had been doing it earlier, but I've got 31x10.50's on it and they are a little rough so I thought maybe I had a low tire.

I checked them at Lowe's and they were fine, but when I backed out of my parking space I saw a puddle of oil about 3" across. I got out and looked and the pinion seal was dripping oil. I went abt 2 miles to the nearest Autozone and bought a quart of house brand gear oil and crawled under it right there in the parking lot where it took about 2/3 of the bottle. During the drive home it lost maybe 2-3 ounces. It stayed parked until the next day when I got a new seal.

I pulled the driveshaft and marked the nut, yoke and housing with a chisel and counted the exposed threads. I expected the nut to be tight so I sprayed it with lube and removed it with an impact. It wasn't loose but didn't put up a fight either. About like removing a lug nut.

When I put it back together I used a ratchet until the marks were lined up with the same number of threads showing. Felt to me like it went on way to easy. Just barely snug but not tight.

Good, bad, or otherwise, I used an impact to run it down about 1/2 or 3/4 of a turn where it stopped. It's tight. Can't budge it with a ratchet. Checked the oil and took it for a drive. It seemed okay but after about 15 minutes I noticed the whine again. Only does it under load but stops as soon as I let off the gas.

I don't know if I hurt it by running it almost a quart low or if I screwed up the preload when I put it back together, but I find it hard to believe that running it the way it went back together using a ratchet could have been good. As easy as that nut was to line up I could have put it on with a 1/4" drive ratchet.

I've worked on engines and machinery for years but never touched a set of gears. I'm not afraid to pull the gears and drive the pinion shaft out but getting it back together right would be new ground for me.

I could have a shop press new bearings on the shaft, but getting the clearances correct during reassembly might be trial and error which is why I thought about a complete swap. I'd prefer to fix it rather than replace it but with my lack of experience with diffs this may not be the time to experiment.

I think I'm hosed.