was checking out the 3.73 i bought, took the cover off and took a short vid of the gears, dont have the cash to have this thing actually taken apart by a shop and checked out, want to see if you other 2nd gen guys can give me some tips on what to look for on this rear end to make sure its in good shape.

upon taking off the cover, i found the left bearing cap just laying on the bearing with no bolts in it. turned the axle by hand, it spins freely no noises. looked at all the teeth i can, dont see any broken or chipped.

6c69954b.mp4 video

 

can you see the wear on the teeth of the pinon and ring gear? you want a wear pattern thats just over 3/4 way or so down the teeth you can either buy the die or use white lithium grease to see how the theeth lash together the hot rod on the discovery channel had a really good show where they showed "how to" rebuild one of these rear ends it would be a good guide for tear down inspection and reinstallation

 

No bolts in it, and no bolts anywhere in sight? I'd be a bit concerned, as I wonder why someone pulled the bearing cap bolts? If you can get a couple bolts and correctly torque them, you'll need to do that before making any checks, or they wont be accurate checks.
I'd be worried that the carrier may have been pulled and then possibly the shims on the side bearings are not in the same place they were. If they just pulled the bolts, then you can reinstall them and all will be fine.

 

yea i'm not sure why the bolts are just missing, i'm gonna clean this thing up real good, also make sure the bolts aren't inside the housing somewhere, and fix the cap before i go further

 

Those bolts are pretty large, so I'm sure they're not there, or you'd see them. If you pull one more out you can take it to an auto parts store, or junkyard and match it up with a new bolt. I think you can order them new, but not every store will have them in stock.
The bolts need to be torqued to 60 ft. lbs. and they're the same for posi or open diffs.
You might contact a local shop that does differential work and ask if they have a couple. They might have an old rear axle that's got two in it for cheap.

 

Is the inside as rusty-grungy-sludgy as it appears in the video? Could be someone was inside messing with it, and left it open to the elements for a while. I'd check everything over with a fine combed tooth!

 

I am worried about your seals too... Looks kind of milky too... I take it from the S-Spring in the spiders it is a Posi? I would clean it up and replace the bolts that are missing and try it out.... if it is a posi don't forget the Eaton Friction modifier additive... after a week or running it, I would at least pull the fill plug and see if you have metal in the lube. As long as it is apart I would pull the front Yoke and Axles and replace the seals and inspect the Axle bearings.

 

There is a lot of rust. It has had water in it at some point. Check it out carefully.

 

there is alittle sludge inside, dont see any rust in there, but surface rust on the outside axle for sure, might have this thing sand blasted, i'm going to clean out the inside today and post a pic of the results.

 

Must be the lighting then, everything in there looks like it has an orange rust color.