Hy 1951purney, the "carrier" is part of the differential, if you take the cover off the diff. as Wrenchbender Ret. suggests, you can check and see if you can move the "carrier" [the part that the crown or ring gear is bolted to] side to side. If you can move it, then your carrier bearings are worn, and the differential should be rebuilt. You can try to tighten the bearings up, but do not adjust the backlash tighter than the high end of the clearance specifications, that should allow the gears to run together without running on the wear ridges of the gears. This does not take into account any wear on the pinion bearings, or the "oakie" bushing, which is in the torque tube up near the transmission. How long a re-adjustment of the bearings will last is anyones guess, hope that helps.
