Baystate Jeepers

Went to change axle seals last night and the carrier just fell out (no harm done). There didn't seem to be much or any pre-load holding it in. Everything looks fine, but should I be worried enough to buy a dial indicator and check backlash? Maybe replace the bearings? There didn't seem to be much slop before pulling it out, but I only checked it by hand. What do you guys think?

You certainly don't want the carrier to be loose as it will shift back and forth increasing the backlash and messing up the gear pattern.
Wouldn't hurt to get a dial indicator and check for side to side play and backlash. Shim as indicated.

There should be some resistance when installing/removing the carrier.

Most of the time you would need one or two pry bars to get them out. Its very important to have pre load to keep the measurement the same during throttle and coast. With the carrier out and no driveshaft , you should have as a starting point at least 20" lbs. at the pinion nut . You have to start there and then set backlash . FjR68

Pinion load is minimal, doesn’t even read on the inch-pound torque wrench. Time for a rebuild. Glad it didn’t blow up on me... another trip to Rausch may have done her in!!! Explains why the axle seals were leaking. Looks like the gears are still okay at least.

A little help please

Should I go with this gear pattern? Backlash is 0.007 (spec is 0.005 - 0.008 according to FSM).

The pinion bearing is pressed in and pre-load is set, but I have setup bearings on the carrier. So, changing backlash is easy but a pinion shim change would be a pain, but I would do it if necessary. I'm no expert, but Randy's Ring & Pinion says the side to side doesn't matter as much as the depth on the tooth.

Here's the pattern on the opposite side of the gear. Should I add shim to the pinion to go deeper on the drive side?