hello,

I have search the forum and not actualy found any posts that talk about play in the diff most talk about play in the hubs. i have an 86 YN63 4 runner, I am about to swap out the front diff to a 4.6 to match the rear ( i havn't been offroad with mismatched diffs) but the front passengers side (the short side) of the diff has abit of play in it the 4.6 has far less than the 4.8 thats currently in there but theres still alot of play. I think I have to change the diff bearing to reduce the play but as there is only one bearing holding the spindle inplace i assume there will be a bit of play anyways.

Thanks Dave

 

With gears it is important to go out two decimal places IE 4.56 and 4.88

 

Yeah why would you change to 4.56 from 4.88?
And my front 4.10 has loads of play.
Been fine for 3 years now. And probably 15 before that

 

so as for play when i grab my drive shafts and go back and forth i have almost 1/4 of an inch of play. i have talked to diffrent shops and they said that is good, now if u do have too much then to reduce the play u have to replace a crush collar.

 

Are we talking the pinion flange, or the CV flange?

My CV flange on the Passenger side has about that much play. With no noticeable effects so far.
Only way to fix it is to rebuild the diff.

 

yeah i know the diff swap seems the wrong way for off roading i live in australia and most trips are alot of flat long distance driving. With the 4.56 ratio my little 2.2 4Y doesn't really suffer much on the hills and gives me alot better fuel consuption and better top speed. Plus my rear diff has a badly worn spindle and pinion gear and my truck came with 4.56 spare diffs. peow we are taking about the pinion flange.

 

Ah. Well if the pinion flange has that much play, then it needs either a new pinion bearing, or the pinion needs to be tightened down.
Generally it'll need a new pinion bearing.
Might hold off on the diff swap and rebuild the front 4.56 with new bearings..