Well, working on the truck off and on when its not raining or hot and humid. But, I did discover why this old girl was probably left to die next the barn on the farm. While removing/replacing the rear wheel cylinders I noticed that the rear seemed a little noisy, like there was no lube in the housing. A quick look a loo, and sure enough NONE! I pulled the cover, and are sure enough, completely dry and the passenger side carrier bearing was wasted.
During disassembly, I found another issue: The retaining pin was actually broke, which put me in a real pickle. If I couldn't get the pin out, I can't get the axles, carrier, etc, out. Which means locating a replacement rearend.
Luckily, with the help of my buddies lathe, I made a bushing/drill guide from a cheap bolt to run a left-handed drill bit thru and luckily, the pin made it out pretty easy.
