We did pull the rear cover off (forgot to take a picture though), and didn't see any kind of retaining clips on the ends of the axle shaft. The ends of the shafts are in the middle of the posi clutches, and I really can't see much in there, but I can see about 1/4" of the ends of the shafts and don't see any retainers. (I'm Derek C. - Bob's brother)
Update for all. First of all, it seems I'm a big doofus. There is no mysterious Ford Bearing or anything, it seems to be a regular c-clip axle. It was easy to tell by looking inside the pumpkin. Anyhow, we now have the axle out and we can't figure out the problem. It seems that the in/out movement of the axle is limited by the center pin when pushing inward (i.e. toward the pumpkin), and by the c-clip when pulling outwards. Is that all? If so, why is there SO much movement? (i.e. about 1/16") Right now I only see two choices: 1) Ever car does this and I've never noticed (which would reinforce the "doofus" part) 2) I am missing something else that should be obvious... Anyhow, I would appreciate any help / insight... Very perplexed, -Bob Cunningham
Hi Mike, So when you mention "chucking" back and forth - how much is normal? That seems to be what we are seeing. The axle can only go in until it hits the pin, and out until it taps the C-clip. I'm pretty convinced that a little bit is normal here, and not the problem we first started going after. We were initially going after a metallic clunk when going over bumps, found the end-play and concluded that might be our clunk. Now that I've been in there firsthand and seen the end play I'm not so worried about it. It seems like about 1/16" of play. There is no up-down play, just the in-out play. Thanks, -Derek
