well, the driveshaft and pinion nut was a pain to get off but i managed. the seal was shot, i didnt take the bearing out but i inspected as best as i could by spinning the wheels and listening for anything or looking for anything that didnt seem right. there still seemed to be alot of oil on the bearing so i must not have lost as much oil as i thought, i'm thinking the whining i was hearing was because the seal was just so bad that it wasnt sealing even the noise of the bearing spinning. anyway, all looked fine so i replaced the seal and i also took off the cover and inspected the gears. everything looked perfectly fine, nothing worn or no indication of anything that seemed bad or broken or anything. all looked fine. i replaced the gasket and put everything back together and cleaned all the excess oil off the differential as best as i could. after sitting for about 10 hours, i took it on a small test drive for about 10 miles up to 50mph and then back home. i heard no whining and i looked underneath and saw no indication of any leaking. i woke up this mrning and looked underneath and all still looked fine so i went on another drive for about 30 miles up to 65mph and back home. again, all looks good, heard no whining, no slipping/hesitation inbetween 40-50mph and no leaking underneath. i feel pretty good so far but i'm certainly gonna keep an eye on it. i figure if nothing bad happens in the next couple weeks i probably should be alright. hopefully i got it before it got me. thanx all for your help.

 

real quick, i mad sure i cleaned off real good where the seal goes on, i mean real good. i also used a rubber mallet to tap the seal in as easy as possible. i didnt do any damage to the seal that i saw. i'm pretty sure i used as much care as possible replacing the seal....just sayin'

 

Sounds like you may have got it. Cool. Pay attention to it for a couple weeks, and if all seems well, you are probably golden.

 

thanx HEYYOU, i sure hope so....you got me pointed in the right direction right away. i downloaded the manual from the FAQs from above and then ended up just buying the manual for $27 at my local adv auto. i spent $21 on the seal, $5 on the gasket. $7 on the gasket sealant and $16 on the gear oil. if all goes good, i spent a total of $76 as apposed to possibly up to $1200 for a new rearend. got my fingers crossed. no matter what happens, it was still worth the effort to try and do it myself and plus getting on here and getting help. thanks alot!!!! i'll keep you informed.