[njsteve]

Picked up the 3.54 diff today. Total cost was around $750. More than half of that was the bearing kit and seals.

Looks like Blackstone was right on the money. It was devouring the bearing rollers in the main pinion bearing, which was contaminating the fluid with iron.

That was also the "tinkling" sound I heard. The rollers in the main pinion bearing were probably around 75% of the size they should have been. And all the races were showing severe brinelling. The main pinion bearing race was bad enough that you could catch your fingernail in the divot at the 12 o'clock position in the photo.