Need help diagnosing my 8.8 28 spline open differential

[600$04Ranger]

Just finished replacing my axle bearings and seals because I thought they needed it. Had the wheels and drums off the other day to inspect both my drum brakes and the axle. The truck has 220,000 miles on it and as far as I know the gears and bearings are all original. It was a grease caked mess when I bought it. Fixed the leaking pinion seal and gave it a thorough cleaning. Instead of a smooth feeling when turning the axle at the lug nuts you can feel the spider gears bumping into each other making a kind of indexing or ratchet feeling. I'm not sure what it was like when new or how to interpret the condition. Maybe it's normal? Or a sign of excessive wear? Reason I thought it was the bearings is from a video I watched the other day. Dude was noticing the same ratcheting feel when turning his axle and said it was the bearings for sure. I may not have needed the bearings but it was a good project that I hadn't done and at least I can check that one off my list. Any suggestions for diagnosing my differential gearing? There's an 8.8 limited slip axle with 4.10 gears(same as mine) from a 2004 fx4 that had 114,000 miles at my local salvage yard. They want $525 for it. Be an easy swap and potentially a nice upgrade but maybe I should just buy a limited slip or a locker and do a rebuild? All opinions and suggestions welcomed!

 

[scotts90ranger]

There's not many teeth on the spiders, it's normal to feel them when turning the axle at the tire if I remember right... it's been a while since I've jacked up an open rear axle and turned the tires... with it jacked up like that and turning the two axle shafts I wouldn't worry about it too much, the rear axles on these things can take a beating...

 

[600$04Ranger]

There's not many teeth on the spiders, it's normal to feel them when turning the axle at the tire if I remember right... it's been a while since I've jacked up an open rear axle and turned the tires... with it jacked up like that and turning the two axle shafts I wouldn't worry about it too much, the rear axles on these things can take a beating...

After a little more research I found a few helpful vids about inspecting, disassembling, and rebuilding axles and differentials. Realizing that the condition of my gears are, like you said, a little worn but far from damaged. There can be play in the carrier caused by slight wear on the pin or a little too much gap between the gears. Nothing that needs immediate attention but it will need either service or replacement to improve the function and lessen both noise and vibration eventually. Thanks for your input.