Hi Duck!

I think the advice from PlanetMan would be the only way to gain some direction on what might be going on under there short of opening up the Pumpkin.

It seems to me wear should be contributed more to the spiders gears or the pinion since it takes so many more revolutions for them to make versus the ring gear one!

It’s going to be difficult to tell where or which one, of the five out of six is more loose.
You have to lock up the ring gear to feel the play on the pinion. The cover off makes that easy.
The ring gear only freezes when it has push the spiders and they have put force on the axles though their respective engagements.

The 1/4 to 3/16 movement on the largest peripheral diameter of the pinion shaft may not seem to great, when considering all the backlashes being combined to get all tightened up!
Clearances are needed for lubrication film and expansion.
Clack is not wanted, really!
Like a popping knee joint, who likes one of those! (:)

If one spider gear is more loose than the others then that’s the one that gets to rattle my itself.
Of course, How much it affects the ring gear to make it sound like a bell is only one question?

A spider gear thrust washer keeps them from jumping back away in the yokes.
One or two might be all of what’s worn in there?
Unless you have flat out worn gear teeth, all can be shimmed back closer with some due diligence for cheap in this case! Some Dykem dye or Prussian blue does the tracking.

Setting the strike pattern back up to specification can only be done this way, with shims or washers as each axle housing, coming off a factory floor, has variances of length and to that third member alignment of which has to be a right angle rotation!
Thrust forces are going everywhere!

A cover pull and inspection is the most definitive way to “play that tune” while watching.
Like PlanetMan said about a lift,
Leaving one axle on the ground and lifting the other one in a succession to each other might be a method.
Having the drive shaft holding the ring gear, locked up from moving in either direction, removes the pinion to its play, only?
I think that’s where he suggests the stethoscope, on a pumpkin sides, with each axle rocked for play separately?
The clunk might only be one of the two spider gears with looseness!
I want to say there are two Intermediary ones or idlers, for lack of better terminology! (:)
The other two on the axles are called driven. The ring and pinion (or worm drive gear) are spiral cut gears.
But, Their all bevel gears to get the 90 degrees going!

I’ll be out here awaiting your find!

Phil