Rear end noise

[71 super]

It is possible that you have already trashed the pinion bearings or at the very least created a burr on the pinion gears. Get a machinist file and clean the edges of the pinion gears. To do this 1st remove the cross shaft in the rear carrier. It is held i place by a 5/16" pin/bolt. Slide the axle shaftS inward after you remove the wheels one at a time, there is a horseshoe type clip that holds the axles in place. Remove the clip with a strong magnet- sometimes when axles are slid in the fall out but not typically and the magnet is nearly fail safe. Slide the axles out into the housing tubes - no need to complely remove. Use 5/8 socket to then remove the carrier saddle bolts and note side and any shims that they might have in them- photograph! Repeat for the other side. Be careful here as the carrier will actually fall out. before it comes out replace the pin/crosshaft that holds the spider gears in place. This will save you some headaches later if spider gears come out with the posi. Now you can clean your pinion gear teeth or go ahead and pull it out to check bearings. The shims for the pinon are located under the lower pinion bearing and can't be removed without a press so if replacing bearings to a machine shop you must go. You should be ble to get numbers off the bearings to order replacements as well as the number for the front seal. When you get new ones have the machine shop press them on using the shims that you already have for the pinion (you will be replacing bearings not the pinion so things should not change. Install a new seal and a crush sleeve. This are available as kits from placs like richmond gear, and randy's ring and pinion. Summit and jegs also sell rebuild kits for $60 to $100 bucks. You will need a pinion depth checker to reinstall as the crush sleeve is a bitc* to crush in a vehicle laying on the ground so you might want a pro to do this especially if you don't have the tools. Here with the parts available the job is about a 2.5 hour job there with the wait and parts availabe (assumption) you will be down a week. Try tightening the pinion nut first. Fyi the torque settings for saddle caps is 55#, back lash (preferred) is .005 to .008 acceptable is .003 to .010. Pinion preload is new 20-25 #, used 5-10 #. Hope this helps and it could always be worse, axle shaft could have broken and/ or ring gear bolts could have sheared and removed themselves automatically through the housing ask me how I know Good luck with this, you can do it.