Man I tell ya...the monster should be a cat.
Cause he's got 9 lives.
What's that look like to you?
Its one of the 10 ring gear bolts that were all on their way to falling out.
They were all loose, several had fallen out, and laying in the bottom of the housing...one of them got picked up and flung at the cover so hard, it punched a hole clean through the cover.
One of them is still unaccounted for...
( it likely never was installed)
For the last month, the rear end has been clanking when I'd put it into gear...Now I know why.
Two holes are gonna have to stay empty for tiday...one bolts threads were trashed..its very possible that the ring gears threads are the same.
It'll get me home tonight, and that's all that matters..ill obviously have to put new bolts in when I get him back home safe...ill consider rebuilding the Tloc, and adding a cover w/bearing cap support at that time too.
So...one more life down... That puts me down to about 3 left.