Yea, mine had some tiny needle bearings for the vertical pin. They were arranged in two rows, an upper and a lower. The upper ones had broken cages due to moisture attacking them. The upper gear ball bearing was also slightly pitted from water. It was clear the water was entering the top of the knuckle where the steering shaft enters. This area is above the oil level and the lubrication is minimal. I also found the thrust washer on one of the wheel bearings to be missing it's roll pin. This allowed the washer to back off and the axle to start wobbling. This caused the seal to go bad and start puking oil. Thankfully, these bearings and seals were readily available from my local bearing supply shop. The axle went back together without incident, but I developed a interesting problem the first time I engage 4wd. The front tires rotated in the opposite direction than the rears! Turns out I installed the ring gear backwards. Suprisingly the front axle is perfectly symetrical so the gear could be reversed and things would still fit! It's pretty obvious that even a perfectly functioning axle could still have major problems. This is on case where the "ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy could be expensive.
