I let my brother drive my truck over the weekend and when he bought it back he said there was a loud cracking noise in the back and the brake caliper sounded loose. So I checked the calipers and parked it for the day because Im not working too hard on my day off. The next morning I started to drive it and heard the loud cracking and it felt like my tire was about to fall off and my brakes were locking up. WHOA!!!! I pulled over to take a look at it n at first thought everything was fine. I hopped back in and the truck WOULD NOT MOVE. SO I thought maybe the brakes were locked up but no. After a closer inspection i realized the rear gears had gone out so I snatched the drive shaft out n towed it home. I found a replacement rear end at the junk yard for dirt cheap and put it on and it drove like nothing was wrong. Now I just need an alignment badly because it rides really rough now and pulls to the right. Just a story i decided to share. Its a good thing i rested the day before.

 

I'd be kicking the crap out of my brother.... lol

 

there is no rear adjustment, Unless the springs are bent or you aligned the U bolts wrong, or put the shackles on wrong there is no way it can be out of alignment in the rear. Did you get the axle with springs attached and all?

An alignment check will tell you if you have an excessive thrust angle, which is the direction the axle faces in relation to the vehicle centerline.