My rearend suddenly makes a loud cracking and snapping when turning at intersections. The driver's side wheel often locks up and drags during the crack, but there doesn't appear to be any problems when driving straight or applying power while turning. This leads me to believe the differential is shot. For years there has always been excessive driveshaft slop (more than 1/8 of a turn) so I new this day would come. My wife is going out of town for two days and leaving me with our truck, so I'm going to pull the third member tonight.
Do I just have to remove the four nuts at each axle end, slide out the axles, then remove the third member? Also, is it okay to apply heat to the four retainer nuts to help them along. I tried to remove them in the past and one side was too stubborn to do without risking stripping them, so I stopped so as not to make the situation worse.
Do I just have to remove the four nuts at each axle end, slide out the axles, then remove the third member? Also, is it okay to apply heat to the four retainer nuts to help them along. I tried to remove them in the past and one side was too stubborn to do without risking stripping them, so I stopped so as not to make the situation worse.