Sloppy D44

While replacing the pinion seal on my rear D44, (out of an 87, has 4.56 gears and an autoloc) I notice a lot of free play. I could turn the driveshaft probably a good eight of a turn, maybe a little more, before it would stop. This is without the tires moving at all.

This problem must have existed for a long time. When I was driving the original Jeep it was on, I would notice a lot of slop when I would get on and of the gas. I just thought it was movement in the spring from the 2" blocks though. Yet it still does it on my current Jeep with a full spring lift. I also recently went from loud MT tires to General Grabber AT2. They are so quiet, that I can now hear the annoying whine of the rear axle.

So I guess the point of my long post is... What is my best solution? Last time I have the diff open, I could not see any signs of wear that would be concerning. Would I be able to just tear it a part and put new bearings in or maybe even just a new crush sleeve? Then just reset everything to specs. Since it's already whining, I might just try to do it myself to see how hard it really is to set gears. Cause really, how much more could I screw it up? Never done an axle before, but I'm sure I'd at least get it closer then it is now.

Might there be another problem instead of having the gears set incorrectly? Like maybe the spider gears are worn out.

So anyways, I guess that's as much info I can provide without going and pulling the cover off to take pics or actually pulling it a part to inspect the gears. Hopefully someone can inform me of what to be looking forward to as far as a repair would go.

Thanks in advance!

The slop you talk about is most likely from the locker and the whine is most likely from gear contact not set right when the gears were first installed not alot you can do about the whine now the locker alawys have alot of slop at the pinion it is the nature of the beast

Well, at least it is from the locker and not something else going wrong. Was worried about it leaving me stranded someday. It's a lock-right, not autoloc, just got the name confused. Looked up some pictures of the unit, and see why it would cause the extra play.

What would need to be done to re set the gears? Does the pinion need to be adjusted, or do you shim the carrier somehow?