Removed diff cover and found large chunks of magnetic material in the ring gear teeth. It appears this is from a magnet installed by the manufacturer. It is supposedly soft enough to not harm the gear during operation, but I want to get it out of there. I removed the carrier pinion retaining pin, but the pinion will not come out. This is preventing me from removing the axles so I can get the carrier and pinion out to clean things. I bought a Chilton’s manual to see if there was any insight in there. As normal for Chilton’s, there was nothing I hadn’t already figured out myself.The differential was an eBay purchase described as “This is an 8.5″ posi rear axle assembly out of a 1998 GMC Sonoma Highrider(ZR2) with approx 45,000 miles on it. It has the gov lock posi 3:73 diff in it with rear disc brakes as shown in the picture. It is 63″ wide from wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface.”
Note that this is not what the Stalker requires and is wider than the 2WD drive rear end the stalker specifies. I am trying to get a 60” track fore and aft which will require altering body work and making new front control arms. I still need to research the availability of longer track rods for the steering.
