Front differential metal shavings.

It's better to replace it right away and not take any chances

 

could be junk left over from last rear

 

Keep dancing Fred. Keep an eye on the magnetic plug when you do services.
If you just wanted to do a reman as maintenance no one would knock that.

 

I don't know why people say it's ok to ride like that. Sure, that thing might last some more time, but the constant fear of it breaking down while being loaded far away from home is definitely not my cup of tea.

 

Probably power divider parts. The metal is what caused the seal to go out. You may not notice anything until you engage the power divider. I'd fix it now.

 

You've got some choices to make.

You could get another plug and just swap plugs every two or three thousand miles and see if it's getting worse.

If it were me though I would probably get into that. Which is going to bring you to another choice.

You can have someone take it apart and at this point it could be a bearing or cage that has come apart and hasn't damaged anything. But you're going to have down time and time taking it apart and seeing what the problem is and probably ordering parts whereas a reman would just come out and go in. But if it is just a bearing or cage or whatever, it could be something inexpensive.

But I think if it were me I would want to get into that and know what that is. You might get lucky.

Is there any play in the Yoke up and down?

 

that is the power divider. If you aren’t experiencing any noise or issues, you can probably keep going for a long time as long as you don’t abuse it. Other than that, a new one can be installed for about 5 grand out the door. I would leave it alone if that’s all you saw. You got big problems if you see bearing cage material and lots of crap come out the drain plug