Dodge Repair: dodge rear axel 1999 9.2 metal parts in diff housing, worst case scenario, clutch pack

Question
1999 4x4 360 auto 4sd dodge sport quad cab danna 44 front axel 9.2 chry anti spin 3.55 rear axel hi been a mechanic for some time now never saw this yet doing normal diff service because of miles not noise found what looks like a smashed up cotter pin and a tear shaped piece of metal about the size of a penny in the bottom of the diff case also on the pass side or the carriir housing there are two holes with loose silver half pipe looking things flopping around and seem to be leaving a wear pattern on the pass side diff carrier brg cap on the inside have u seen this yet i am a a loss to what the halfpipe dealeies are the rear has two clutch pack r &l side  ofthe side gears the half pipe whatits are on the carrier housing and loose as a goose in their respected bores. any help would be greatly apriceted thank in advance john aka willefixit

Answer
I've not had alot of experience with the differentials but I know the trucks with the corporate rears were known for having a rather small part cause extensive damage.  I want to say it was something like the retainers for the clutch pack or the adjuster locks would break.  The worst case scenario would be damage to the bearing caps that hold the differential to the rest of the case.  Since they're a matched pair then replacement of the entire rear housing and a rebuild would be in order.

The half-pipe components you're referring to are probably the adjusters.  On the corporate differentials they used adjusters that were threaded to move the diff. side to side instead of shims like on the Dana style rears.  The adjustments were made using long torsion like bars that would go through the axle tubes and turn these adjusters.  That would prevent constantly having to pull out the differential to reshim it but required having the speical tools to do so.
Doug