DIFF PLAY

I took off my rear propshaft today and whilst doing so noticed that my
lurching ,when in RWD only, was because the propshaft seems to turn almost a
full half turn either way before turning the diff.
Should S3 88 have this much Play/Slack in the rear diff.. should the
propshaft move freely at all or should it be connected solid to the rear
diff.

If not how do I remove theis half a turn of play.. No wonder its been
kangarooing at slow speeds so much.

By the way the guys who advised me to remove my rear propshaft then drive
without it on were right.. My grinding stopped.
Turned out to be the rear proshaft/uj joint .. its wobbly ...

If i buy a new propshaft will it come with the uj jouints attached? or will
i have to connect the bearing and things myself?

And can rear diffs be tightened somehow like a steering box to take up the
slack?

Jason Hall

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Jason Hall wrote:

> I took off my rear propshaft today and whilst doing so noticed that my
> lurching ,when in RWD only, was because the propshaft seems to turn almost a
> full half turn either way before turning the diff.
> Should S3 88 have this much Play/Slack in the rear diff.. should the
> propshaft move freely at all or should it be connected solid to the rear
> diff.
>
> If not how do I remove theis half a turn of play.. No wonder its been
> kangarooing at slow speeds so much.
>
> By the way the guys who advised me to remove my rear propshaft then drive
> without it on were right.. My grinding stopped.
> Turned out to be the rear proshaft/uj joint .. its wobbly ...
>
> If i buy a new propshaft will it come with the uj jouints attached? or will
> i have to connect the bearing and things myself?
>
> And can rear diffs be tightened somehow like a steering box to take up the
> slack?

A new propshaft should come complete and ready to bolt on.

Play in the rear axle assembly can be several things. I'd pull the half
shafts and chach for worn splines at both ends of them (are the drive
flanges still tight?). Otherwise it's a diff head out and look for
problems scenario. It's quite likely to be worn out spider gears from
what you describe.

--
EMB
change two to number to reply

Jason Hall wrote:

> I took off my rear propshaft today and whilst doing so noticed that my
> lurching ,when in RWD only, was because the propshaft seems to turn almost a
> full half turn either way before turning the diff.
> Should S3 88 have this much Play/Slack in the rear diff.. should the
> propshaft move freely at all or should it be connected solid to the rear
> diff.
>
> If not how do I remove theis half a turn of play.. No wonder its been
> kangarooing at slow speeds so much.
>
> By the way the guys who advised me to remove my rear propshaft then drive
> without it on were right.. My grinding stopped.
> Turned out to be the rear proshaft/uj joint .. its wobbly ...
>
> If i buy a new propshaft will it come with the uj jouints attached? or will
> i have to connect the bearing and things myself?
>
> And can rear diffs be tightened somehow like a steering box to take up the
> slack?

A new propshaft should come complete and ready to bolt on.

Play in the rear axle assembly can be several things. I'd pull the half
shafts and chach for worn splines at both ends of them (are the drive
flanges still tight?). Otherwise it's a diff head out and look for
problems scenario. It's quite likely to be worn out spider gears from
what you describe.

--
EMB
change two to number to reply