A little problem in the rear.

That happened when my pinion bearing was on the way out. Had what seemed like excessive lash in the pinion that turned out be the whole pinion shaft moving around letting it turn more than it should. This was with less than 1000 miles on the bearing.

Well, you will have some slack when turning the pinion and that is normal.

Did you check your u-joints and all mountings including the rear axle?

You do not have to remove the carrier to change the pinion bearing, but don't get the cart in front of the horse. After checking EVERYTHING ELSE, remove the axle cover and check the backlash with a dial indicator. If you then know that you have excessive backlash, inspect and find the reason.

A "clunk" as you describe is rarely caused by excessive backlash. It is more commonly caused by u-joints, driveshaft carrier bearings or mounts (in the case of a two piece driveshaft, a bad transmission mount, loose axle mounting and the like. Do not remove the axle cover until you have checked all these things.

Of course it could be something as simple as the DS bolts were loose.


BTW I vote this thread title for his CT.

+1 thread title for CT...

Did you mark the driveshaft before you removed it? If not now you will have a clunk AND a vibration. If you get vibration from DS unbolt it and rotate 90 degrees until it goes away. Best to mark it when disconnecting to avoid this.

It is normal to have a little (ok a lot) of drivetrain slop.