Sport rear Dana44 help.

So everything decided to craps at once but here's what I need help with. My rear diff. started to sling grease out the pinion seal. So when I started taking it apart, I removed the drive shaft and noticed the pinion moved around a lot as if the nut came loose. Problem is, the nut wasn't loose and none of the bearings look to be bad. I haven't got it completely clean up but know there aren't any broken parts in the case. I have not done much differential work and not sure how it could loosen up. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Did you actually pull out the pinion bearing? I had a problem a few months ago where the pinion seal was leaking oil. Replaced the seal but noticed that there was a lot of play in the yoke. I had to replace my pinion bearing, it was pitted and was near the point of failure. Was there anything in the gear oil?

Here's how my pinion bearing looked.

Are you running an aftermarket drive shaft or have had your gear swapped out? Without having seen what you are seeing, it sounds like your crush sleeve may have been over crushed and your bearing are now worn out.

The differential was rebuilt by the dealership last spring. I don't understand why the didn't replace the axle bearings and seals. So I had a torn axle seal that let in water. 2 axle tube seals, 2 outer wheel bearings, both pinion bearings, pinion seal, and a brake rotor later it's running. I wasn't sure how to reset the pinion nut so I ran it down lightly snug then a tweak more. I used the original crush sleeve. Any advice on this would be appreciated