[79vette]

The motivation for tearing this all apart was a loud howling coming from the Ranger box as described in the first post when under heavy load and/or climbing hills. The drivetrain would also randomly bang.jerk violently (like the transfer case shifter would be torn out of your hand if you were holding it). The banging sounded like a large metal piece being ingested by one of the gears and then spat out, but I dont see any chipping or damage on any of the gears. At this point, I think I should do bearings/syncros/seals in the SM465 and in the Ranger and put everything back together hoping for the best. The NP205 looks fine and was recently rebuilt, so unless anyone thinks that amount of metal is unreasonable I am planning to leave it alone. I might replace the pilot bushing in the flywheel while I am at it.

However, I don't see anything that would have caused the banging/shaking. I will pull the axle covers as soon as it stops raining and look for broken parts in there, but I will be really surprised. I would think a broken ring or pinion gear would be obvious at any speed/load, and I don't know where else broken diff parts would come from...