So I get my new truck the other day, '89 Jimmy, and I'm toolin' along down the freeway to get home. I stop at a gas station and notice the pinion seal on the rear axle is leaking. So I go into the station, buy some gear oil, and fill it up. I figure I'm replacing the axle anyways so it doesn't matter. Then, about 2 miles from home, I hear a funny clunk. I open it up when I get home and not only is it full of gear oil (not sure how that happened since oil was practically spraying from the pinion) there's a small piece (like half of a dime sized) missing from the carrier. So I get out the die grinder and clean it up and as I'm about to close it up, I notice the missing piece. Only problem is it's wedged in between the ring gear and the housing. It's on the top side and I can't get it out for the life of me. I can't move it forward or backward. I've put the truck up on jackstands and ran it in reverse and it won't move. It just keeps scraping the ring gear. My question is, should I pull it apart to get this piece out or am I wasting my time since I'm gonna replace the axles anyways. Mind you I need this axle to work for a week or two, but that's all.
I removed the bearing caps and wiggled the ring gear/carrier assembly while slowly turning the right side axle to get just enough room to pull the chunk out. Unfortunately my digital camera isn't with me right now, but I should have it back at 4:30 or so. I'll just let it sit until then and post pics when I get it back. Thanks for the help and if I can ask you one more thing, do I now have to set up the ring gear again or do I just torque the bearing caps down to a certain spec? I never actually pulled the ring gear/carrier assembly from the pinion and housing if that helps.
