Darn! I was hoping to hear something like " Yeah and then I gassed it as hard as I could to punch my way through and Blammo! It happened" Hey at least it's fixable!!!

 

Whoa... no screwdrivers! And no removing bearings! OK, you took all the retainers off the nuts and have the two side carriers off right? Just use a rubber mallet and tap evenly around the ring to drop it off the carrier. Are you doing the pinion too?

 

Yep, I'll be doing the pinion too. I figured a screwdrive wouldn't hurt, since I'm replacing the ring gear anyways. I'll try smacking it with a mallet. It's kinda hard with the bearings in the ends though..... cause it keeps spinning on them!!!

 

Take the carrier assembly out of the diff housing, set it vertical on a 2x4 and smack away! should clunk right off... just be sure to get it evenly off... don't continue to bang one side! Do leave the bearings on (really difficult without a press anyways) the carrier / locker.

 

Shouldn't I replace the bearings and check the carrier for pieces of metal ie:tooth?

 

Were talking about the (2) bearings on the carrier right? You need a hydraulic press to get those on and off, and you probably don't have one of those do you? The old bearings should suffice for just replacing the r&p... Important things to replace are the ring gear, pinion, pinion seal and try to match up the bearing housings to the sides you removed them from... they have a wear pattern unique to thier side. And yes check for bits and pieces of metal throughout... brake cleaner or parts cleaner works here. just hose the whole works down. After you get it mic'd and dialed replace the old diff gasket with a new one before reassembling.