MTFCA Forum

As I was making sure that my rear hubs were not contacting the cap on the axel tube I grabbed the axel and gave it a pull. It moved! But the question was by how much?

I put my dial indicator on and this is what I got

Driver's side was 21 Passenger side was 28
In my pile of parts that came with the car I found broken rear end bearings a thrust washer (made out of that bad stuff) and a receipt that had washers listed with rear end parts. So I was taking a chance in driving (testing) the car that they guy before me had replaced the washers. I planned on taking out the rear and looking to be sure but now the end play makes me wonder. Do I dare drive it?

Now I've read this forum many times about the dangers of those thrust washers. I've seen Steve Jelf's article.

Oh what to do??????

You need to see if the differential is moving within the axle housing (thrust washers 2528) or if individual axles are moving within the differential (axle disk washer 2506).

someone needs to pull on one axle and resist all movement, to load the differential toward that thrust washer and then you proceed to see how much your side moves in/out without disturbing or moving the opposite axle...that will measure the axle disk washer inside the differential. They are often missing...not a terribly big deal in my opinion

then, both people pull their axle "out" to extend them...then one pulls harder and seats the whole mess to one side. Put your drop indicator on the other axle and pull THAT side while the other person keeps some tension...that will measure the actual differential (thrust washer) clearance and give some indication as to what is going on with them

Scott I'll give that a try. Got to make sure my mechanic gets her homework done first. Thanks for the test procedure.

That's not much movement. Probably a combination of axle movement inside the differential and side to side movement of the differential inside the rear end housings. You don't want close fits inside a T rear end. I'd leave well enough alone.
If you're concerned that the rear end was not gone thru, then by all means have at it. You may find a number of issues to be addressed, but the amount of lateral movement you have wouldn't, in itself, bother me.

I agree with Richard..007 in is acceptable
Art Mirtes

Thanks for the replies. I still do intend to pull it apart to make sure my thrust washers are ok. I just wanted to be able to drive it some more before I pulled it all apart. Still going to run the tests that Scott was nice enough to lay out for me.

Quite likely it could run like this for a good while and would be OK. The question would be if the rear end has ever been gone through. I’ll bet there are T’s on the road with more end play than that that’s never been checked.

The dimensions of movement given @ .021 & .027 are way off, but not necessarily an indication of something serious. Exactly where the wear is from is a combination of the carrier & between the 2 axles.
What we can conclude, is that the left thrust washer is in tact. If it werent, there would be 3/16 + movement. This is the critical thrust. Without it the ring & pinion mesh is way out & these expensive gears get torn up.
We cant surmise the condition of the right thrust washer since its excess movement is curtailed by the pinion gear. Its possible to go in thru the filler hole with a bore scope to view the right thrust washer.
Does the rear end need a rebuild? Yes. Can you still drive it for a while? Yes. For how long??
Be cognizant of any change in rear axle noise, especially gear noise & park it.

When/if you take it apart, I think you'll find that the small fiber disc that goes in between the two inner ends of the axle shafts is missing. By itself, that's not cause for alarm or a tear down. If you can borescope into the filler hole and see bronze on the right side, I think you can reasonably assume there's bronze on the left as well. If the right side needed it, then it's a safe bet that the left side did too, given its substantially higher loading.

In the long run however, it's your car, your safety & your peace of mind at play, so you've got to do what makes you confident.

I'm going to order a scope. Hard to find one for an IPhone. I've got to look again. I think I've put about 1 mile on the car so far and I don't plan on driving it much before I start my rebuild of the rear. I just did know if the movement I measured is cause to park the car until the rebuild or could I continue some more testing of everything else I've done. One thing for sure I will get a small metal tag and mark it as bronze thrust washers installed once I check it.

Scott,
I tried what you said and this is what happened.
I pulled on one axel and had my daughter rest any movement. the other side moved in and out very little. I did not measure it.

Then we did the second part We both pulled the axles "out" to extend them...then I pulled harder to seat the whole mess to one side. I put a dial indicator on the other axle and pulled THAT side while my daughter kept some tension on her side. My side with the dial indicator didn't move.

Richard Gould put it very well and you don't really have enough slop to make ME lose sleep.

I just bought an endoscope which came with it's own viewer, for about $65. Arrived the other day and has a wonderful depth of view. All the phone ones seem to require down-loading software and I simply will not do that with my phone.

in any event, with patience, the right-hand side of the differential can be seen with it and will tell you if you have brass or white-metal on that side, at the very least.

Thanks ScottI'm going to look for a scope with its own screen. That seems like the way to go. Plus you can use it for other things as well.

I bought this one and am VERY pleased with it: https://depstech.com/products/endoscope ... 7gQAvD_BwE

just used it today and am very impressed

I'll be ordering it soon. Thanks fo the tip.

Well I got the scope I also made some adjustments. Take a look at my thread Getting Rattles Back on the Road.

viewtopic.php?t=9508

Take a look You'll laugh you'll cry. You may call me a bone head. LOL