8.25 carrier wear

How many miles does it have on it, what is it in, and what kind of power are you hitting it with? I've seen some pretty hard wear on some truck 8-1/4's, but that one has really been put through it. That carrier is trashed to the same extent as the spiders and pin and not salvageable. Not only that, but you've got a lot of metal that's washed through everything else and probably have more damage than whats pictured. I'm certain the carrier bearings have got some damage, and I would be really surprised if you don't have some vertical and horizontal slop in the pinion once you get everything washed out.

I went through it a couple of years ago, put in a set of 3.55's (from a Jeep) and replaced all of the bearings. It's behind a hot 360/904, probably 350hp. It's been abused, a few 2nd and 3rd gear one wheel burnouts over the last few years.

I got everything cleaned out this morning, the ring and pinion look good and the bearings still feel tight. No slop from what I can tell but I might throw on the dial indicator. I may have an extra set of carrier bearings from when I rebuilt it but I'll have to check on that.

I was wanting to go with a suregrip, which would require a whole different carrier, and then eventually upgrade the rear end to a 8.75 or an 8.8 or something bigger. So I'm not looking to keep this one going for 40+ more years but I still want it to still be pretty decent for a few years at least. Throwing in the lunchbox locker is quickest way to get it back on the road and I was hoping to flush everything out good enough for the bearings to last. Just wasn't expecting all the wear on the carrier.