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A little sloppy

Ever since i converted to 4 speed, from a c6, ive noticed some slop in the drivetrain. It is noticable when going from decelerating with the engine holding the truck back, to accelerating, or vise versa. I had the trans and tranfer case out when i did the swap, and didnt notice any slop there. So im wondering if its in the rear end. I also recall noticing it when i had the c6. Could this be cause by a worn ring and pinion? or what?
 

surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
I would put the transfer case in neutral and move the rear driveshaft back and forth by hand. If the slop is in your rear end, you'll be able to feel it then. It makes sense that it becomes more noticeable now with the standard tranny vs. the slushbox. If it is in the rear end, check the torque on the pinion first. The nut on the yoke also pulls the pinion tight to the bearing. I have seen loose pinion nuts cause the same slack before.
 
Ill do that. Im just waiting for an excuse to do something different for a rear end. I have a nodular case 9 inch sitting out back just waiting for a locker. Although i will stick with 3.73 gears
 
The infamous drive shaft " Clunk " ?
 

john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
Two-pronged question-

cip- how much rotational play have you got in the driveshaft?

and for everybody- how much rotational play is too much?
 
I wont be able to check for a couple days, but i will check this when i can
 

surewhynot

Rep whores make me sick
13,843
821
Florida
Two-pronged question-

cip- how much rotational play have you got in the driveshaft?

and for everybody- how much rotational play is too much?

The backlash on the ring and pinion should be between .008 and .012. A new healthy rear end, you should just be able to feel the lash, not any rotational force. As things wear, the lash gets greater and you will be able to start to rotate it a hair. As far as how much is too much, it's hard to say by feel. The service limit is .016, IIRC. Does anybody check? nope. Do they run when they're alot looser than that? yup. Is it a good idea? nope. Have I ran em loose? yup.

In other words, even though the service limit is still tight, they normally have to be way out of limit to cause problems.
 
To get rid of the clunk ...stuff some (handful) disc brake wheel bearing grease in the slip yoke.

The clunk will magically disappear
 
The clunk is really bad on the '91 F150 E4OD I inherited.

My stepfather had taken it to a shop and they told 'im...
"it's a Ford thing ;) it's ok, it'll go a long way like that :)"
That was 30k to 40k ago. :)

All the play is in the 8.8 axle, not in the transmission or
drive shaft. YMMV

What I was told was my step sister's husband borrowed it
and then hauled "too much brick in it" over the period of a
couple days and "when he returned it, it had that clunk".

Hey, it's just a "big car rear axle" and nothing more. ;)

My son had a '71? Ford station wagon that was rated at
a -higher GVW- than my '75 F150! LOL :)

Alvin in AZ
 
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john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
Yeah, there's a TON of slop in the axle of my Ranger.

If you drive it smooth it's OK...but if you jump on/off the gas hard, or mess up on a shift, it sounds like you're gonna blow the rear end up right then and there.

Been like that for...heck...50k miles, anyway, maybe more.
 

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