Rear axle end play December 17, 2005, 11:10:06 PM When i was putting my snow tires on at work yesterday i noticed that the right side has about 1/2" at least of end play. Is that normal or is it the clutches in the trac loc worn out or what? Thanks for the help Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #1 – December 18, 2005, 09:11:41 AM Slop in the axle is normal. That's the space between the differential pin and the side gear. The C-clip on the axle is sliding back and forth in that space.If you're sure you've got 1/2 inch of play you might wanna pull the diff cover off and make sure the axle isn't moving far enough that it could allow the c-clip to fall out. A lot of slop is normal, but 1/2 inch is beyond a lot Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #2 – December 18, 2005, 10:15:45 AM Dude mine moves like 3/4 or more. when I hit bumps that make the car rock back and forth you can hear the drums banging. I've read before that when an trak loc rearend wears out it causes this. Only a few of our cars came with them though. Just check your diff tag.My car has the trak loc and I'm sure its the problem because it doesn't work as well as it used to. Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #3 – December 18, 2005, 10:31:53 AM yeah, i took mine apart early this year and one of the c clips just fell out by it self as soon as i touched it. think that it had around 3/8 to 1/2" of play... scairy seeing how it means your axle could just slide out one day... after i get some money together im putting in c clip eliminators. Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #4 – December 18, 2005, 10:31:57 AM Are you talking about the axle moving in and out of the housing?!?!!?There should be nil movement.... and definitely not 1/2". A 1/16"-1/8" maybe. If that axle is moving 1/2" there is definitely a problem. If you're talking about backlash...as in when you rotate the wheel, some it normal, and by the time you multiply the backlash at the pinion/ring gear and factor it out to the wheel outer diameter, then yeah, 1/2" is about normal.Alot of the times these cars have alot of lateral movement in the rear axle due to the flimsy control arms and bushings... Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #5 – December 18, 2005, 12:12:42 PM Well my car is a sport coupe and i know that it has trac lok based on the door tag. When you grab the wheel with it bolted on to the axle you can pull the tire out and push it back in, I may be wrong on the amount of play but i would say it is at least 1/4" i didn't get to measure it so i dont know for sure. My manager thought that it was normal and said that every ford that he had worked on had movement(he worked at a ford dealership for a while) i just didnt know if it should move that much or not. Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #6 – December 18, 2005, 01:14:11 PM Sounds like time to tear into the diff. Loosing axles isnt fun by any means and could be a danger to you and anyone around you when it comes apart.Do the safe thing and inspect it. Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #7 – December 18, 2005, 01:51:22 PM .030 is the spec'd factory limit for axle endplay/sideplay. http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=2135&highlight=endplay Quote Selected
Rear axle end play Reply #8 – December 19, 2005, 05:47:00 PM Quote from the '84 shop manual:"Be sure to measure the end play with a dial indicator; not by feel.A guess usually feels like far more end play than there actually is." Quote Selected
Topic: Rear axle end play (Read 1260 times)
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