Alright so I just bought my newest jeep and it is having a growling noise from the rear end so naturally I replaced the bearings and seals on the axle tube ends thinking they were shot due to the fact the seals were junk. This partially fixed my problem, After I replaced these and drove my Jeep I found that the bearing noise was still there and will only growl when I give it gas. So I am figuring this is the pinion bearing that is gone? I was also wondering if I would be able to go and get a pinion bearing and be able to put it in without it effecting the gear backlash to much? I had the dif. cover last night and inspected the ring gear and pinion and the wear pattern seems correct and nothing seemed abnormal. I need to drive this jeep 370 miles in 3 days so I want to replace this before I leave and possibly tonight. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

So, I take it no one knows anything about 8.25 pinion pre-load and gear backlash?????