Hot Rods 1934 ford driveshaft to pinion play question.

I took the torque tube of my 1934 rear end to check everything.
The pinion bearing have no play but I feel some play in the drive shaft that slide over the pinion spline ( the pin is in )
The play I feel is up down/left right but no play when I turn it like when driving.
Is this play normal ?

My other rod have open drive so I can't compare, Thanks.

 

it should be fine. as long as there is no play when it is rotated you're good. you could take the pin out and check to be sure, but the reality is once it is installed and the u joint is bolted to the output shaft of the trans, its no moving any more.

 

In a perfect world that spline should be snug with no play. When they get too worn, they tend to break the pin, which then moves out to crash into the torque tube. You may also get some vibration there after its worn badly. To keep driving as is you should wrap the end with some heavy shrink wrap to prevent the pin from falling out if it breaks. That would maybe get you lots more miles of use and prevent being stranded on the road

 

from what the OP was saying, i think the splines are tight, it just moves up and down on the splines, as if it was being slid on or off the pinion gear. Ive seen more than one that had slop like that in it with no issues.

If there is slop rotationally in the splines, then you need to see which part is worn the driveshaft, or the pinion, and replace what is worn out.

 

The play is not up and down in the length of the drive shaft but like the red arrows.
I can move the end up and down like the red arrows and feel play ( not rotationally)

 

I would definitely pull the pin our at remove the drive shaft to inspect the splines. If the splines look good with no uneven wear, i would put it back together and using a wire type feeler gauge to measure what is there for movement, it may be very little but feels huge because of the length of the shaft. I had a little play in the last 39 Banjo I rebuilt, but it had a different style drive shaft, solid with a coupler at the pinion and I replaced the coupler, which tightened it up some, but still had some movement. either way, as long as there is no slop when it is spun I think you will be fine.

 

Thanks