Uh, yeah, that woulda been some good info a few hours ago.
But, hey, like my dad said; this is just one more lesson to remind you that you are no longer a human forklift. Trust me, I am NOT going to forget this lesson very soon. I'm hoping to get the parts and get this thing back together before I go under the knife on Wednesday. I have not one, but two forklifts and plenty of room to get to where I need to go with either one during the re-installation process.
While I have it off, think it's worth it to replace the bearings or just whatever seal failed? Nothing seemed loose and the bearings
looked fine. Also, since the differential fluid looked pretty black, think I ought to go ahead and change the rear differential fluid while I'm under there? Seriously. It wasn't making any noise before, but maybe fresh fluid may make it shift just a tad easier and last longer. Yea? Nay?