I just did my 20 hr service on my rancher, and i put my 424 on before i had even 10 miles on it. I now have over 200 miles. I was just doing a quick checkup for the up-coming weekend (labor day) after changing my oil and stuff, and when i checked the rear end fluid, it was pretty dark and had a little silver in it. No metal chunks, just had a metallic shine to it. Is it possible that when running in 2wd that it puts too much load on the rear gearcase?? Anybody else had this problem? The front diff oil looked almost new yet, and i havent got any water in the gears yet.

Needless to say, I changed both fluids out. I put the rest of my Mobil 1 75w90 synthetic in, had enough to do both front and back. I did just do a little ride down the blacktop about 5 miles the other day and i forgot to put it back into 2wd, maybe there was too much driveline windup going on and that's what my problem is. The machine is still under warranty, so if anything goes bad it goes to the shop, but i figured i'd ask around first.