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So I'm changing the oil in my rearend and notice these marks where the pinion has hit. How is this possible? The front yoke seal is leaking and needs to be replaced but what else has gone bad to allow this to happen? 99 F350 DRW with Dana rearend.
Pinon head is walking away from the ring gear under heavy load. Happens all the time on my Toyota rockcrawler. It's not ideal but generally it won't hurt anything. Do you tow heavy or put heavy loads in the bed of your truck?
Pinion bearing going out allowing pinion gear to move rearward. Probably related to the reason the oil seal is leaking. Also may be that the pinion Nut may have come loose allowing rearward movement. best bet is to look at the pinion bearings to determine if they need replacing rather than just tightening nut after replacing the seal.
I had some slop I noticed that couldn't figure out until I went to 4.3 gearing. The bearings wore in the pinion and allowed it to walk under load. Similar to what you are seeing. Guy at shop called me back and says 'check this out'. Fortunate it didn't totally fail and blow out bottom of pumpkin. I drove it with this clunk for like two years
The Dana/Spicer driveline shop I go have some horror stories about this happening. That pinion nut torque and red locktite are kinda important. That is one thing I let someone do, it only costs me an extra hour at work!