Junk on the drain plug of my diff.

[BitBandit]

so I was changing the fluid in my diff, it looked pretty nasty and there was all this goodness on the drain plug. It looked like little metal flakes. Should I be looking at replacing parts back there soon?

 

It is not very focused sorry. you can kind of see the flakes on the rag

[DanielC]

Is the rear end noisy, make loud clunks, or otherwise sound abnormal?

 

If you are really worried about it, check the plug again in a 1000 miles or so.

[BitBandit]

Thanks for the input. No clunking or strange sounds I will just keep en eye on it.

[datzenmike]

If it's a black paste with very fine 'sparkles' that's normal. Wipe it off and the next time you change the oil you have a starting point for wear reference.

 

Diff oil should be changed every 30K miles. How many owners have had your truck and never changed the diff oil??? 2-3 more??? If you have never changed it, It may not have been changes since the early 80s. If using petroleum oil get GL-5 80 W 90. If synthetic be warned that that stuff will 'slip' right through worn pinion seals. If you do use synthetic check the drive shaft end of the diff weekly for wetness. I didn't and by the time I heard the growling and looked the diff had been dry for weeks and was a total loss.