How much play is too much in rear ds?

I have a bit of a clunk letting off the brakes at a stop and going from R-D, D-R so i was going to pull the rear ds yesterday and grease the splines when I found that the PO had completely rounded the bolt heads on the U-joint straps. I would've missed the Steelers kicking the crap out of the Raiders if I dove into it, so I put it off until later this week.

Just a quick question - how much play is too much play in the rear driveshaft? the U-joints all look tight and no movement visible there, but I have a fair bit of back and forth play when I turn it by hand.

Sorry, 96 4.0 AW4 242 3" lift, stock shaft.

No play.

I chased the same clunk for more than a month. I replaced both u-joints in the rear. No more clunk. Have you done anything to correct your angles? 96 + 3" lift might be stretching it without a T/C drop or SYE.

I thought it was amazingly easy to replace the u-joints...I had dreaded it and although I gave myself a couple of hours to do it I was done in 45 minutes. Take a wirewheel to your yokes before installing new joints.

...and yes, the Raiders played like POO!!

I've done plenty of u-joints in my 92 XJ and on my Aerostar and F-150, but this doesn't feel like u-joints. I suppose it may feel different because the 96 is an auto, not the AX15 I had in the 92.

I will take a good look at them when I get the dang ds off but if I snap one of those rounded off bolts I am going to be pissed.

BTW, sorry about your Raiders but if you live in "Paradise" I guess there are some trade-offs.

Should be no play in the shaft.
When was the last time you changed the fluid in your AW4?
I always get the clunk changing from D-R and vice versa when the fluid is toast or is contaminated with water.
New fluid and it goes away.

check the pinion bearing/yoke for tightness on the rear axle.

No idea if this is related, but:

I have noticed that while driving down the road at about 50, if I let off the gas and coast the RPMs will drop to 1k for a couple of seconds, then go up to 1500 or so for a second, then sit at around 1250.

I am not feeling any strange shifting and I have no idle or engine stuttering problems. Is this normal or abnormal?

I will take the above advice and flush the tans (which I was planning to do soon in any case) and put in new fluid & see if the problems go away.

BrokenSockets said:

No idea if this is related, but:

I have noticed that while driving down the road at about 50, if I let off the gas and coast the RPMs will drop to 1k for a couple of seconds, then go up to 1500 or so for a second, then sit at around 1250.

I am not feeling any strange shifting and I have no idle or engine stuttering problems. Is this normal or abnormal?

I will take the above advice and flush the tans (which I was planning to do soon in any case) and put in new fluid & see if the problems go away.

Click to expand...

might be torque converter lock/unlock.
and you might want to check your motor mounts/trans mount. THey may be the source of your clunk.