I think the shop must have run them in full-bore with an impact, which is why I was skeptical of the others.

Either that or they left them too loose and the bolt backed out so much it flexed and snapped, which strikes me as less likely. I'd think if there was enough deflection to snap that bolt the vehicle wouldn't move at all due to no/minimal contact between ring gear and pinion.

No matter -- glad it's fixed now!!

 

I agree, seems like a rare case. I seem to attract unlikely problems/fixes with this truck, but I still love it.

I was still troubleshooting my ABS/Speedo issue when I heard the rear end start wining and was wondering if there was an issue with the tone ring in regards to the ABS sensor, that prompted me to pull the cover, all seemed to be fine until on a whim I decided to check to make sure the bolts were tight....

Now on to the next issue, fixing the leaking steering gear box. Haven't decided on re-sealing this one or buying a new one.

 

Replace it. But, don't just get one of the parts store steering boxes, they can be worse than what you are replacing. Redhead, Borgeson, and Bluetop all make good replacement boxes. Some are getting hard to find though......