Well Ive had my 31 Spline 5 Lug axles in for a while now.
But when I had it on a jack a while back I noticed you can pull/push on the wheel and the tire/wheel move in and out maybe 1/4" and it makes a clunk noise.
Im guessing its just some play around the C clips?
Do you hear loud banging noises coming from the rear when you go over potholes or into and out of lips in parking lots? If so, than you may be experiencing what mine is, too much wear in the C-Clips.
My guru buddy MM is doing a rear end swap and we were chattin about it. He had a very good point about this stuff. Because a little bit of slop feels like a lot, you really need to set up a dial indicator to measure the endplay. This takes the subjectivity out of it.
The rear end just felt funny when driving and I thought it might be the axle moving in and out.
But I also noticed that the top of the diff housing is like 3/4" away from the pinion snubber, so Im pretty sure I need to trim the snubber. And I believe the FMS driveshaft is rubbing on something too.
Their is a Ford spec on alowable axleshaft endplay is, I can't rember what it is, but1/4 is way too much. With excessive play you are much more likly to have a c-clip walk out and have your wheel/axle come off while driving (don't laugh I have seen it happen many times)
their are thicker c-cips to fix this. Are you sure the c-clip o-rings are on the axleshaft?, lack of those will cause this issue as well.
on a performance note if you are a conehead or an open track guy, this really messes with brake performance,
9" ends for the win!
fix it so you don't kill yourself or anyone else on the road
Service spec is 0.030" for axle end play. Get a dial indicator and measure it. 1/4" is alot more than that. Three problem areas to look at:
The cross pin in the diff has been beaten down where the axle makes contact.
The C clips have been been beaten down. Last time I measured one though, I think they were ~ 0.150" thick. Not enough to account for .250" endplay.
With a stock type diff, the clutch plates in the Traction Loc could have worn out. I'm not familiar enought with the Aurburn Pro to know if any wear could increase axle endplay.