Sloppy Driveshaft

My front drive shaft has lateral "play" in it at the slip joint. I'm guessing there's no way to rebuild this, is there? How common is this?

there is no real way to get zero play in it but there should be minimal play over time it will loosen up but with 200k on mine it is still ok. if it is only catching the splines at the very end this will cause premature failure. how much play does this shaft actually have? do the splines every slip over one another?

bj-666 said:

there is no real way to get zero play in it but there should be minimal play over time it will loosen up but with 200k on mine it is still ok. if it is only catching the splines at the very end this will cause premature failure. how much play does this shaft actually have? do the splines every slip over one another?

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I just regeared from 3.55 to 4.56. Now that things are spinning faster I am getting a vibe in the front drive shaft around 50mph. To prove that it is being caused by the shaft and not my new ring and pinion, I removed the driveshaft, went for a drive, and everything is fine. The U-joints seem ok, but when pushing on the shaft sideways i'd say it moves a good 1/8". I'm assuming this is the cause of the vibes. I didn't pull apart the shaft to see how much of the splines are engaged but I'm only at about 4.5" of lift so it shouldn't be too bad.

just get a new one or a junkyard shaft with less miles. Mine was worn out at 70k in the front. Once the splines are shot the driveshaft is as good as garbage. Junkyard and 50 bucks later no more vibes.

my front was worn at 90k and gave me awful vibes w/4.56s gears. i think it because of bad pinion angles. go to the junkyard and find one with no play in it, replace the u-joints if needed and get 4wd back

I'm heading to the junk yard tomorrow to see what I can find. Finding one with lesser miles is going to be tough, but I'm sure I'll find one with less play in it. Mine only has about 55,000 miles on it. Granted the last 20k has been a pretty rough 20k miles.

less miles isnt important, just make sure it has no play and is not hte older style shaft, changed in late 80s i think, but you'll be able to tell