I know that when I was restoring the '53 3/4 ton, I loosened the ring gear thruat pad and turned it a number of times thinking it might be a drain plug of some sort. (Yeh, I know, I shouldn't have done that). I have been reading some troubleshooting information and one of the things mentioned for the noise I'm experiencing while coasting can be the backlash out of whack. If the thrust pad adjustment is screwed up, which it probably is, could this cause what I'm experiencing with the noise when coasting? I don't know anything about rear ends and don't know of the thrust pad has anything to do with backlash. At any rate, how do you adjust the thrust pad with the rear end still in the truck? The only thing I see in the shop manual is with the whole thing open and on the bench. Also, I have the rear end cover plate gasket on order from NAPA, but they don't have the gaskets for the 8-hole axle flange. I'm assuming gasket paper will work and I can make my own, but do these go in dry or with permatex?
