Drive shaft probs

[sim]

Well looked out the window this morning and saw that it wasn’t actually raining so I thought I would grab the grease gun and get the Surf greased up and have a general rummage around. I noticed that there was a bit of play on the rear prop shaft, it will rock back and forwards half an inch or so, is this normal. I also found that one of the front drive shafts is as loose as a really loose thing (it almost feels like it is going to drop out of the front diff). Has anyone else had this problem and is it going to break the bank.

Cheers

[TonyN]

You have a little back lash on the rear shaft, it should be in the rear diff, just check there is no slack in the UJ's on the drive shaft.

You should have 2-3mm of axial movement on the flange on the diff, but check the front shaft where it goes though the hub, there are bushes in here that can wear.

[sim]

Thanks Tony, there is no play in the UJ's so the prop itself seems OK. Should I have the rear diff looked at or is this normal. Sorry to be a pain but I am not to good with mechanical stuff. As for the front drive shaft is this a hard job, are there any special tools I would need to do it, would I need to strip the car to bits to get at it.

Thanks again

[TonyN]

I can get at least 3/4" of play (20-30deg approx) at the pinion when twisting the prop on all our trucks, so i'd guess that pretty normal wear and tear.