trying to figure out exactly what is wrong or needs fixing.
the driveshaft is pretty loose in the diff and t-case. it rotates a couple centimeters maybes an inch at most. makes a clunk sound in the diff and a lighter ringing sound in the t-case when it reaches the limit of how far you can rotate it. When the engine is running, it stiffens up quite a bit but still there is a bit of play. the U-joints seem pretty solid though. and thats not where the play is.

had a freind tell me it seems normal but im goin on a long trip soon and wanna make sure.

how much play in the drive shaft is too much? and if it rotates in the diff, what could be the potential damage?
thanx lots!

 

This rotation, is it with the wheels off the ground? You should be able to barly detect any free play in the diff, if you have alot it may be a good idea to pull the diff cover and check your gear clearances.

What trans do you have? If you have an auto you might be feeling all the clearances in the whole setup from the parking pawl back through the T-case.

 

ive got a manual 5 speed.
this play is with the wheels on the ground.
there is also play with the rear wheels lifted up. ive gotta dana 70 posi.
while the rear is in the air, one wheel will rotate a bit befor the other starts to rotate.

id like to pull the cover off but i dont have much experience with diff gears. what should i be looking for? or what shouldnt be happening in there if i pull it off?

 

Mine does the same thing but its not a posi. I figure that if its not making abnormal noise its okay. Mine has supposedly had the oil changed every 20k, but i haven't looked inside to see whats going on.

 

If the ring/pinion gear is worn down pretty bad it can leave a lot of play, but usually makes a howling noise when driving it. The fact that one wheel starts to turn before the other indicates some worn out spider gears and/or other LS components. Even with worn spider gears they can go a long time with out an issue. When I rebuilt my 70 it felt like more than normal play considering it was a brand new ring and pinion. Figured out it was just the spider gears creating the slop. The spider gears did not look bad at all and my mechanic said they are within spec. When I turn mine really slow I can feel the pinion gear hit the ring gear then turn it some more and feel the slop in the other gears and then turns the tires.

 

There should be a thread on rebuilding the limited diff in the sticky, but what sounds like is happening is the cross shafts (there are 2 in a power loc) that hold the spider gears (4 of them) has a lot of play in them, this is probably from a worn out set of clutches.


If you have a fast enough connection you can download the literature in this link to see what is inside before you dive in.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ml#post2774975

 

thanx again for all the good info.
Are worn out clutches something that should be dealt with right away?
or how about the spider gears?
for a diff rebuild you need to remove the rear axel right? or is there some work you can do while its on there?

 

it can be done with the axle on the truck. You have to remove the differential cover and the axle shafts then the power loc (if you have one) will come out. If you leave the clutches go to long (kinda sounds like you did) then they will worn out the spider gears. If you catch them early enough all you will only have to replace are the clutches. The clutches are around 60 verses 300-350 for the entire rebuild kit.

 

Look in my gallery for pics of what happens if you let the clutches go too long.

 

so for the purpose of removing a stuck ABS sensor, i opened up my rear diff cover. noticed that there were two teeth somewhat chewed up.



is this something i should deal with asap or what are some thoughts?
thanks!

 

Thats the ABS tone ring and having it chewed up like that usually means something is out of whack enough to let it rub some thing. Since your sensor broke it may have rubbed that and chewed it up. When my axle broke it was because my carrier bearings were so bad it allowed it to chew against the case. If your fluid looks ok and bearings feel ok then having the teeth chewed on there won't hurt you. To check the carrier bearings just try to wiggle the carrier up and down with no load on the axle. Pop a pry bar in there and gently see if it moves up and down.

 

i dont think it was the sensor that tore the teeth up cause we broke that upon removal. so it must be something else. It is only two teeth that are chewed. i didnt try the pry bar but everything in there seems solid. Still visible play inside though when spinning the tires.