I have some forward "play" in the drive shaft. I've read that is to accommodate the movement of the rear drive/wheel. See my video, does this look normal? I'm trying to track down a recent "clunk" on a drive and, well... the final drive and associated splines look good. Although the final drive seemed hot after that ride...
If your drive shaft and u-joint are still bolted to the transmission, then the answer would be NO. If the 4 bolts that hold the u-joint to the transmission output flange are removed, that kind of float would be expected. If you have not done this yet, I would check inside the boot at the rear of the transmission. You can loosen or remove the ribbon clamp at the transmission and pull back the boot to inspect the flange and the bolts securing the flange to the transmission. Year and model are helpful with inquiries. /5 and /6 drive couplings are fitted to the driveshaft on a tapered fit, where as later models have a spring and cog sort of cush-drive assembly. There would be no travel associated with either of these normally.
former Airmarshal, IL.
@8053 yowzaa! You hit that one on the head. 3 bolts were out, the 4th was hanging by a thread or two... it's amazing things didn't blow up! I did suffer a small Crack in the transmission side flange and a hole in the boot. Phew...
Good thing that you checked on that. I can't tell from the picture but what happens sometimes is that the lock washers can break and get flung out, which defeats the purpose of the lock washer. The other possibility is that a previous owner didn't do a very good job of tightening the bolts the last time it was opened up.
former Airmarshal, IL.
The bolts supplied by your favorite source are shorter than the originals and do not use lock washers.
former Airmarshal, IL.
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