I think GV gears are 4.30s, I remember reading
that they were taller than the rest.

Is swapping out internals stuff that a mechanical newbie should be trying in the first place? One thing I want to avoid is paying someone else to do work on my truck...

i think ( from reading and looking) its one of those things that u will need instructions (FSM) and time..alot of time because the first time u do it u will muttle through it..then after that itl take 10 mins lol

As long as you just drop out the 3rd member
and put it into the new housing, you should be
fine, the long drivers side axle needs a slide hammer
or pry it out (tough) the Pass side pops out with a big
flat screw driver, be carefull of the seal, it's a surface
type and seals against the back of the CV cup.

If the new axle has the same gears, don't mess with
it, just put it in.

That's about what I figured... for me to learn how to do it I'd need detailed instructions and lots of pictures/illustrations.

If the new axle has the same gears, don't mess with
it, just put it in.

That's my intent in going with another stock aluminum differential. If I was going to swap gears, I'd be looking for a GV front end instead. I'm just trying to cut back downtime/work involved with the swap.

  I need parts too, I got to score either
a long side 22 spline or a pair of 26 spline
axles before I take off for Moab in a week  

hey, is there a certian years of GVs that match up?  Explosive, before you get ready to do this im me and i will try to scan the pages out of my manual if that will help you  or goto the dealer and ask for an exploded view print out, might help you muddly through faster

I've decided to go the easier/cheaper way and am buying a parts truck to nab the front diff out of just for a straight swap

to bad it wassent running..u could "rally" it where u did that car   lol

Well, if all goes well, with a bit of tinkering, I could have the other tracker running... I'd just need the new front axel since that's the first thing I'm taking off it

Another way the housing brakes in reverse is by the axil twisting.

Going forward, the 3rd member is rotated down and is supported by the front cross over.  When you are in reverse, the 3rd member is rotating up and pulling on 3rd member and it's rubber mount.  The twisting helps to brake that other mount.

Like someone said earlier, put a steel strap over the "noise" of the third member to hold it down to the front cross over.

This is what I have done and havent broken one yet.  broke a lot of axils lately but no housings.

Well I searched a bunch of wreckers yesterday for another aluminum housings but only one guy had one, and he wanted over $200 for it (with the gears)

For that kind of money I might as well buy a steel housing from the dealership.

Anyhow, what I'm gonna do is pull my third and make a new ear out of solid stock aluminum, then weld it on.

Then I'm gonna run the steel belt over the carrier and see if she holds up.

I had planned on doing the strip of metal over the third member as soon as I install the new differential... Just seems like a really good idea now.

On my V6 that mount had four holes...I haven't broken an axle yet, but then again maybe its because I don't have a chance to go wheelin too much.  

I'm not a 100% sure if it will fit or not, but I'm pretty sure that it will.  May be  next time you're out in a scrap yard take a look under a Sport model.