trprdav

I have a 2003 Silverado Z71. I've gotten a lot of use from it, currently 270,000 miles and still strong. I have heard and am used to the normal "clunk" that is associated with the slip yolk but recently I have started getting a loud, hard thunk coming from the rear end. It started off only when coming to a stop but within the last 2 days has progressed to every time it shifts from 1st to 2nd and again from 2nd to third.

I was getting worried until this morning as it was doing it, it began getting even worse, sounding as though the teeth of the gears were slipping across each other before finally sliding in. Then as I pulled up to the drive way, I was going to back in, but when I put it in reverse it just began grinding. So I put it in drive to nose in and the rear end all of a sudden had a whine to it.

I pulled the diff cover off to inspect the teeth on all the gears but no damage, the lock pin has a slight bit of play but not enough to cause all the racket. Removed the drive shafts and worked the rearend and found I have a lot of slop back and forth. My truck is grounded and I need it fixed ASAP. Anyone have any wisdom they might share on this?