Had to replace the spider gears in my 2000 rearend. One was missing half the teeth and another looked like someone threw a handful of sand in there and ran it. Everything went well when I changed them out and took it on a 200 mile trip the only thing is it housing is heating up. I compared it to my 98 by touching the cover after a long drive. On the 98 It doesn't bother to hold my hand there but the 2000 is quite warm "it's not comfortable to hold my hand on it but I can hold it there without pain, just on the verge of hot"

The ring and pinion had no damage to them and the bearings all felt tight, "nothing I could get ahold of moved"

Wondering if anyone has any ideas, It's in great shape otherwise. wondering if it's just from the new gears maybe and dare I drive it at all?

 

Well i have to ask, did you put enough fluid back in the differential? Heat means lots of friction, did you use the same shims that were in originally or did you put in new ones? If you did new everything then there are procedures that need to be done to gap the spiders. If they are too close together i would imagine that would cause a lot of heat. But if they arent set properly they usually tear themselves apart quickly