Rear Axle "play" NORMAL?

[Gavin Allan]

My Sporttrac ('03 Adrenalin) makes a very loud "clang" when letting up on the gas and then giving it gas while going down the road. I crawled under it and wiggled the u-joints, etc. and found nothing loose.



Anyway, I took it to the dealer yesterday for another issue, and I asked the dealer to take a look at it. They told me that it is normal "play" in the rear axle, and that all Sporttracs do this, and that if I wanted to fix it, it would cost $800 to rebuild the rear axle with tighter clearances in the gears. The service manager told me that I shouldn't worry about this and just drive it, and that it would never cause any problems.



Is this normal?



Did they feed me a line of crap?



Thanks



Should I worry about it?

 

[kil roy]

last time i had a noise like that and it wasnt U-joints

it ended up being the pinion bearing.

 

[Jeff C]

If it's "normal" how would they "fix" it? Sounds fishy...Still in warranty?

 

[Gavin Allan]

Nope. No warranty.



Sounded "fishy" to me also.

 

[Todd Z]

There are 2 causes, Pinion slop and then Play in the slip yolk part of the drive shaft...



You could remove the shaft and lube the slip yolk... But if it is in the rear you have to set the backlash again, and that can be a PITA and costly....



I had mine adjusted by the dealer, They went to tight and it blew the rear... Now my new rear is doing it....



I guess the "crap" of they all do it may be true...



Todd Z

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Some play is needed as it allows for shrinking and expansion due to hot and cold situations. But, not much more than to allow for a minimal movement is all that is needed. If you have enough movement for it to be singing through your drive shaft something is not right.



You either have worn gears, way out of adjusted ring and pinion clearance, or, a defective yoke as your U-joints are good.