[bestatchess]

"It appeared that the ring gear had just jumped out of place and cause the housing to split."

WTF? Sounds like B.S. to me. The ring gear is bolted to the carrier. The carrier is supported for rotation in the housing by carrier bearings. The carrier bearings are held by bearing caps bolted to the housing. The ring gear does not jump anywhere unless the housing, the carrier, the bearing caps, the bearing cap bolts, or the ring gear bolts fail first. In other words, I think it is likely that the housing failed causing the ring gear to move out of place, not vice versa.