Sdkfz251/7

Greetings folks,

Took my '00 Taco to the shop last week cuz I heard a clinking sound every now and then coming from the rear of my ride.

This is what we found.
Mechanic said it was caused by a bad crush sleeve (Tried to look this part up in my Haynes manual with no luck) that didn't crush properly and forced this lil' dust cover to pop. Anybody else seen this before?
Thanks for the help. By the way, my name is Ryan and I'm glad I found this site.

86Original

Looks like he's probably correct. It just looks excessive for just a crush sleeve. ZUK would know for sure. PM him and ask him to weigh in.

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

Don't see that very often. A really loose pinion could cause the dust shield to break away like that. If you could cut the rest of the shield off with maybe a dremel tool then it's ok to leave it off all together (Jeeps and other rigs don't have dust shields and they do ok). With the tranny in neutral and the driveshaft not under any kind of tension, check the pinion for up/down left/right sloppiness.

Sdkfz251/7

No slopiness as far as I can see (or feel). I will cut off the cover in the morn' with the Dremel and not worry about it anymore. Thanks for the advice gentlemen.
BTW, I'm new here and I'd like to say hello.
Ryan