all 4 wheels on the ground, how much play should there be in the front and rear driveshafts? i was greasing things up tonight and grabbed em both. i can rotate the front about a half inch, and the rear about quarter inch. is this play normal?

thanks

adam

98 D1

 

Call it pretty normal. Do you have any t/case noise?

 

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah i get a little noise. nothing while cruising, but i get a mild clunk on acceleration as it takes up that play, and 2 small ones when deceleration, U-Joints are all good. Its almost like you can hear the tranny downshifting out of from 4 to 3 and 3 to 2. Knowing now that the play in the shafts is normal it would seem likely that the noise is too.

 

Does you're transmission shift fine? clunking sound( other than the little one going into reverse) is not normal, especially on downshifting.

A clunk on acceleration is usually the drivetrain taking up slack of a bad u-joint or worn ring and pinion. But on deceleration(downshifting), not normal. Almost sounds like the trans.

If you never have, drain the fluid and refill adding a bottle of lucas trans additive. That works pretty good for smooting out rough spots.

 

transmission shifts fine, the noise on deceleration is like a pair of small pops. doesnt sound like its coming from the transmission. id be willing to bet is bushings binding up somewhere on the body or suspension, i'll try to pinpoint it better on the way to work later.

 

Hmm, if it indeed is not the trans, I would look for something binding up.