pinon nut
 

hey folks. I have a 1978 Chevy k10 that I plow with about 10 to 15 years ago I replacer crush sleeve seal and pinion nut . this weekend while changing front u joint was bad thought job was done . backed truck out on to road and herd a real bad clunking sound .brought back into garage and jacked rear of truck of ground . rocked rear wheel back and forth and could see rear drive shaft going in and out great broke the rear end after taking down drive shaft found pinion nut came loose bought new pinion nut seal and differential cover gasket and gear oil should I just put back together truck will never see the road speeds just back and forth plowing thanks bob

Re: pinon nut
 

That is only ever going to get worse. Once the pinion gets loose enough the see it, there has been enough movement to wear on the gears. This is likely to cause a whine and at that point wear is accelerated.
You could try some red locktite on the nut, along with staking it, but eventually it will get worse.

Re: pinon nut
 

Mine did that a couple yrs. ago half way on a trip,got it retorqued to try and make it another 300 miles ,no problem so drove it back another 500 miles on the hiway and then for another 6 months in town until I got new gears etc. to fix it.Made some noise on certain conditions but nothing scary