I have just "acquired" a 2004 freelander from my son. He owned it for 2 years, and as it has developed several issues, we felt it best if I buy it from him and he move on to something else. One of the carrier bearings on the rear prop shaft is toast. I've pulled the shaft in order to address this, but in doing this I noticed the rear diff isn't tightly fixed like any other vehicle I've ever been underneath. Is it normal to be able to wiggle it up and down? Seems like it mounts in rubber mounts. According to papers which came with the vehicle, both carrier bearings were replaced just 30,000 km ago. I am wondering if the play in the rear diff has anything to do with this, or is this a normal situation? I plan on replacing both bearings, and wondering if I should just change out the u-joints too while I have it out. (They do seem good though). Thanks.

 

The Dana rear diff in these is mounted in 3 rubber bushings. The front one typically fails and gives excessive up/down movement. Easy to replace, and fairly cheap online.