How much slop should there be in the rear end? 1995 2 door Tahoe 6.5 TD

[jrsavoie]

How much slop should there be in the rear end?
On the 1995 2 door Tahoe 6.5 TD

When in neutral the drive shaft will rotate about 1/2" by hand. 1/4" both ways off center.

A friend thought this was excessive.

How much slop should there be?

There is no bearing slop in the pinion bearing

 

[DieselSlug]

Mine is about that much or more. 240K.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

A 1/2" of movement is more than good. I have seen em so wore out the driveshaft would rotate a 1/4 turn of slack.

 

[3500GMC]

Spider gear wear, cross pin wear, carrier wear is probably 80% of that slop.

There should be an initial 'clunk' you feel if you rotate it just slightlty and slowly.. This would be your actual ring and pinion backlash.

 

[btfarm]

1/2" is perfectly acceptable in my experience. I can think of many times I had wished it was only that much slop.