My drive train has been completely replaced/ re-built back to the rear end. there is about 30º of play when to drive shaft is turned before the gears tighten up. It sounds like the clunk you get from a bad U-joint. (The u-joints are good). Is this an unusual amount of movement or does it fall into an unacceptable amount of play? Are there adjustments that can be made?
if your rear end has a locker then that would be normal. other wise you have worn out parts in your rear.
Yes, worn axle splines to gears, spider gears, and pin. I've seen bazillion Fords do this and never have a problem, except for that annoying clunk when the trans is shifted into gear! It wouldn't hurt to have another 3rd member on hand, but in all probability, you'll never need it!
Bryant, it is the original rear end so I am sure it is worn. Another question, will it just break or will it go out slowly with some notice?
it should very slowly get worse. it really depends on what is wearing. 1st possibility is the gears are wearing out. this is bad. once the gears have worn through there hardened surface they start grinding away. this puts a super fine metal into the oil that works like valve lapping compound on the bearings. the oil in the diff usually looks like liquid metal if this is happening. 2nd spider gears are worn out. this usually happens from one of two things. lots of 1 tire burn outs or a bent housing. the spider gears are not designed for high operational speed that a 1 tire burn out creates. the bent housing will case the side gears to pinch the spider gears causing the teeth of the gears to get eaten up. 3rd, the carrier bearings are loose. this causes the carrier to flop around and the gear set to move where ever it wants. this can be caused by a carrier bearing being worn out, or spinning on its journal, and lastly the spanner could have backed off. if its noise starts increasing then you definitively need to get it fixed. i cant say for sure if it will last forever of fail in ten min. the more you drive it you risk more damage and a more expensive repair bill.
