Axle shaft play

karrarararararar · Dec 4, 2009

Hey guys, for a while now my driver's side rear brake has been rubbing and after putting the car in the air today I finally found out why. If I grab the wheel and push and pull there is play in the axle shaft while the other side doesn't move at all. What would cause this? Could it possibly be a bent C-clip or maybe a bent cross pin? Thanks for the help as it is greatly appreciated

2slo95fiveoh · Dec 4, 2009

How much play, and in what direction? Are you refering to the in/out of the axle in the housing, up/down, left/right, etc....
In/out, a very small amount is normal, but i would assume you are talking about one of the other 2 directions...

karrarararararar · Dec 5, 2009

it moves in and out of the housing. Only the driver's side does it, the passenger sides has no play at all. What makes me concerned is the brake rotor is rubbing on the caliper because of it.

NXcoupe · Dec 5, 2009

Well, as the clutches wear in the posi unit, it will allow the cclip to move in and out a bit. I would also check C clip for being bent or worn.

duff daddy · Dec 5, 2009

This is VERY common, alot of people (once again referring to my job with Chrysler, they use a slightly different set up but still same complaint none the less) will come in and complain that they can "shake" their rear end and hear a clunking. When you put it up in the air you will hear whats called Rear axle end play. This is normal, on some ram pick ups you can actually shake the top of the tire with the vehicle on the ground and hear a popping noise. You could have a worn c clip or axle where it may have more slop then desired but unless its actually grooving the rotor or your having an adverse effectfrom it I wouldnt worry about it.

MustangChris · Dec 5, 2009

learn something new everyday.

karrarararararar · Dec 5, 2009

Duff Daddy said:
This is VERY common, alot of people (once again referring to my job with Chrysler, they use a slightly different set up but still same complaint none the less) will come in and complain that they can "shake" their rear end and hear a clunking. When you put it up in the air you will hear whats called Rear axle end play. This is normal, on some ram pick ups you can actually shake the top of the tire with the vehicle on the ground and hear a popping noise. You could have a worn c clip or axle where it may have more slop then desired but unless its actually grooving the rotor or your having an adverse effectfrom it I wouldnt worry about it.

that's the issue, is it is rubbing my rotor on the caliper and I can hear it rubbing when I drive. I'm gonna have to pop the diff cover off in the near future and take a look. My money's on either a bent C-Clip or a bent cross shaft. I also just noticed that I forgot to mention (I was running on 1 hour of sleep for 2 days when I typed the original post) that it started doing this after I slid into a curb a couple months ago, that's why I'm thinking something's bent.