'97 Blazer 4door, 4x4, LT. So the bearing was bad. Really bad. Inches of play bad.

I get the axle out, and this is what greets me:



Yeah, I need to replace this shaft.



Compare with the other side:



So this was the temporary bearing surface, not as bad as I was expecting:



I can fix those things, but my question is this: Can I still use this diff or must it be replaced?

This is the magnet, and there's a lot more in the gear oil. Even if it all came from the bearing's death/the shaft's weight loss and NOT from the gears... did having this in the oil damage the diff components?




Here are some pics of the diff, I'm not finding a lot of metal shavings on it:



These spots aren't metal flakes, the camera reflected funny.




Tell me what you think, is it re-usable if I clean it up? The gears look fine, there aren't any teeth missing or anything.

 

if it where me i would re use it if no teeth are damaged, should be no problem. i might try and clean it out a little tho. is that a G80? looks like it.

 

I've given it a can of brake cleaner's worth, and it does look less brown.

It is a g80, with 3.73 gears.

I'll replace the bad bearing and run it as is with new oil, doing another fresh gear oil change soon. If the other bearing is bad, it'll get done then.

 

I'd do both anyway, little security for the future