OK so the pathology report is not pretty, but could be worse I suppose. Once jacked up in the garage I would guess the differential is OK; some play but what I am used to it being on most cars. Taking the hubs apart revealed the main flaw I think. I could see a lot of play between the axle and the hub when I moved the wheel as soon as I took the dust cap off. This is the hub flange; the teeth are clearly messed up. The green arrow is where one should go straight down, but it is worn in to the right badly it seems. And at the red arrow at the bottom it looks like the worn in flat landings that other people have posted pictures of.
View attachment 3404516
The CV axles are obviously not great at all, but I am hoping not tragic, what do people think? - a bit hard to see in this photo, sorry.
View attachment 3404517
Could I get away with just replacing the hub flanges and get a reasonable amount of reliable miles out of it?
I don't have a problem with the idea of replacing the cv axles, but as I mentioned in my introductory post way back when, the vehicle has way more rust than I thought when I bought it, and the maintenance by the PO was pretty much nothing (original timing belt at 280,000 kms...). If I try and replace the cv shafts I am sure I will just break more than I can fix.
Thanks again,
Mike