thats what I betting on, the bolts that secure the ring gear to the carrier.

 

Yes, yes I was.

 

Ok...lets say they are 3 of 10 that secure the ring to carrier. Still any thoughts on how they might sheer? I'm going to drain it again in a month and see what I see. If nothing else, I think I will leave it be for now, unless I could bribe a couple friends to help me swap truck to truck.

 

I'm lost - is original truck now already a parts horse? If not spend some of that time looking for one in the boneyard.

 

Not really... but likely will be. If I had the time and coin to make it a dedicated off road rig I would...but both are always in short supply. Not taking anything out of it that would make it unusable right now. I figured the diff I have with the 3 bolts off is still fine in my opinion...but if the 04 is going to be the DD getting the miles, then might as well put another one in it. I just think the 00 is going to be a money pit...and she has 140K and is 13 years old. I still have to dig into the engine issue (I think it is a plugged cat), the wifey had caved in the driver's door last year, I nailed a bear so the front bumper is a bit messed up (but luckily the brush guard took most of the hit), the 3 amigos started to show up every so often, etc.

 

I've seen those bolt heads shear from a impact shock (like a spinning wheel that all of a sudden gets traction and sends a shock wave down the axle shaft) but that was on a rig with a lot bigger tires and a whole bunch more power than one of these trucks, still if there were some faults in the metal, maybe it's possible. If it were mine, I'd at least want to know, not a big deal to pull and it would confirm the suspicion, then all it would cost is a new gasket to reinstall it while you made plans on what to do. Having 7 out of 10 would probably work assuming that the other bolts aren't just waiting to break like the other 3. Still one would have to shear almost all of them to have the ring gear come loose.