Play at the C-Clip end of the axle

[Norseranger]

Greetings from Norway!


I have a question about some play at the C-clip end, on the rear axle.

I had my car at inspection, and I got a remark on play in the rear wheel bearings, right side. The thing is that the bearings are almost new on both sides - they probably only have a few hundred miles on them in the past 2 years. To my understanding, a little bit of play in and out is fine, but it seems there is some play both up and down, and side to side at the C-clip end, which you can feel when you push and pull the wheel, and I imagine this is what the inspector was attributing to the wheel bearings. There is no play on the wheel bearing end itself (up and down, side to side), and there is no noise from them on either side.

I have linked a video to explain the movement; basically there is up and down movement at the C-clip end, when you push at 6 and pull at 12 at the wheel, and vice versa, and side to side movement when push/pullling at 3 and 9.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Is this normal play? If not, is this because of the supposedly bad wheel bearings, or is it significant wear in the differential? I do not have lot of experience with this, and english is not my native language, so I apologize if my question is not clear enough.

This is an 87' Ranger 2.9 V6 with 4WD, and a 7.5" Differential.

Thanks in advance,

Thor

 

[Shran]

Welcome to the forum!

Your video was very helpful in understanding the question. In my opinion it appears that there is quite a bit of wear in the differential - and without taking it apart it's hard to say what's worn. The side gears (parallel to the cross pin) should not be able to move side to side inside their bores in the carrier very much, if at all. The spider gears (the two gears held in place by the cross pin) also appear to be pretty loose.

There are thrust washers behind each of those gears that could be worn, or the gears themselves can have excessive wear (that is a common problem.) Additionally the holes in the carrier where the cross pin slides through can get egged out/enlarged and create slop.

I'd remove the cross pin and inspect its holes in the carrier first. If that is pretty tight, move on to inspecting the side & spider gears and thrust washers. Those can be replaced easily and they are not real expensive - that might tighten things up considerably. Check the carrier where the side gears reside for wear as well. If the carrier shows substantial wear, especially where the cross pin goes through, it should be replaced... hopefully that is not the case.

 

[Norseranger]

Thank you for the welcome, and thanks for your informative answer - very grateful for such a fast response aswell



That explains alot, and I will start checking those things first.

The truck is currently in a garage an hour away from me and I'm a bit pressed for time these days, but I will post an update when I get back to it.



Thanks again!