So my 87 GT has been parked for almost 2 years, this weekend i put the final touches on it and its ready for its glorious rebirth. HEre is the problem, as I was bolting the rear wheels back on (rear end was in the air) I grabbed the tire and pulled on it, and the axle moved maybe like 5mm outwards, first thing that goes through my head is WTF? So a grab the wheel again and noticed that I could move the axle in and out just a little bit but enough that you could here a click metal on metal noise. I checked the other side and it does the same thing. So is this normal, is there suppose to be a little play "in and out" on the axles? The car runs fine and I haven't noticed a difference in the drive. I just dont feel like taking it down the highway and have an axle some how slip out and me potentially dying.

Signed
-Frustrated

 

Hey red87, it is normal. There is always some axle play

 

Wow i could hug you right now, that is such a relief.

 

That metal clunk you hear is the c-clip stopping your axle from coming out. There is a small amount of play there, and as stated above, it is perfectly normal.

 

When I first disassembled my rear end and I seen the C Clips, I was like "thats it?"

LOL