Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades...

[Megazone23]

Here's another update. I took a closer look at the diff, and I'd be very surprised if there's a shim available to take that up. Even if there is, it's the action inside of the diff cup that seems to be the issue. It doesn't seem to be a problem with slop, because there's no play in the diff assembly itself if I hold it by one of the output shafts and try to move the ring gear/diff cup up and down.

When I turn one of the output shafts, though, it feels like the gears aren't meshing well, similar to the way a zipper feels when you zip it up. I've looked at the teeth on the output shafts and the spiders, but there doesn't seem to be any wear. On some teeth, it almost appears as if there's a very slight nick, but you really have to look closely to see it. It doesn't seem like what I would think you would find if the gears were grinding. I found no evidence of binding anywhere, either against the diff cup or the ring gear.

Should I just replace the output shafts (2) and spider gears (2) and see what happens? If so, is it okay to get the stock shafts/spiders or are there some better aftermarkets?