Focus is in Canada isn't he? So shipping on the diff would be way easier, cheaper, and faster than from me... but if you need mine let me know... Bum luck though on it being messed up. I spent time on my drive trying to figure out what else it could be, but I can't think of much else... short of worse news like the entire tranny being junk... Being able to turn the wheels independent even when it is in gear isn't abnormal... many times I"ve put the car in gear so I could get the lugs loose and it would still rotate... no idea why... just does it sometimes and not others... But the scraping/grinding you talked about.. did it matter what gear you put it in? I'm guessing not, which leads it back to the diff... and I'm assuming you never took the tranny itself apart... so the only thing I can think that to be if you have all the fluid in and the like is that the diff woudl be blown. I'll keep thinking about it though, and if you have any other comments let me know.. hope it ends up being quick and minor for you though!
Later,
Steve