Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades...

[Megazone23]

I only used enough of the lube to put a light coat on the teeth. I replaced the spider gears, spider shaft, and output shafts, and the action is really smooth now. Just for kicks, I put in one of the original output shafts, and the notchiness came back, so I think something was out of whack there.

I think the spider shaft is one of the other problems. The old one had one edge flattened at one end. When I tried installing the new one, it wouldn't fit into the slots, so I figure the previous owner ground it down to make it fit. I took another approach and put the shaft in my Dremel and ground down the corner edge of the ends so that it has a chamfered edge instead of square. That allowed the shaft to slide right in without allowing any lateral movement.

At any rate, the diff seems to be tip top now. Thanks for your input coolhandcountry. It really helped me think things through, and I ended up learning a lot!