if you move the old ring gear to the new carrier and as long as the wear patterns look good on the old ring gear, you really shouldn't have any problems. I've replace a broken carrier that way before (actually kind of a cool story, Scout II uses almost the identical axle as the new isuzu D44)

But then again, I prolly agree with Rob on this one... I don't know which way is easier, I know how I would do it.... but when you have a 30 year old truck your mind set tends to be a little different when it comes to spending money on repairs.

Peter