Hello everyone, Im glad to find this site!

The rear wheel end play has gotten worse on my 1996 Bronco. Its so bad now that the drum is rubbing up against the backing plate and is making a loud grinding/clunking noise when i drive. Both rear wheels have end play but the drivers side must be worse. When I bought the truck a year ago and i was checking it out i realized the end play on the rear axles. I researched online/FSB and apparently its the gears...(spider gear specifically)?

Apparently you can use shims to take place for the end play and was hoping someone here has done this successfully. If not can someone elaborate abit on changing the neccessary parts/ what labor is envolved to to do this on the 8.8" rear end. Any help would be really appreciated, I am trying to fix this as inexpensive as possible...Thanks alot!
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Welcome to FTE and the Big Bronco Forum. We will try to get you the most accurate info we can.

I just have one question. If the problem is gear-related, how is it that, with enough end-play to cause both brake drums to rub the backing plates, the differential gearing is even still operating properly? That amount of end play would be enough slop in a gearset to let spider gears slip a cog! (A LOT more damage and noise than a little brake drum rub). The axles are splined into the differential gearing and will slip in and out of said splines easily. For this reason, a C-clip is employed on the inboard end of the axle to keep the axle from walking out of the spider gear splines. The outboard end seats against the bearing and seal. The bearing seats in a ridge at the outboard end of the axle housing. The only way it can feasibly shift INBOARD would be if the bearing is letting the axle slide through it. Exploded view of the 8.8. The outboard axle bearing and the c-clip are responsible for maintaining axle position. In your situation, I'd be suspicious that the bearing is letting the axle slip inboard. The fix would be to replace the bearings or axles.

On a side note, I had this happen in an old Cadi years ago. The problem was that the bearing had slipped because the axle had worn down at the point where the bearing was supposed to seat (bearings were press fit onto the axle). This left the axle diameter too small to fix the problem by replacing the bearing because even a new bearing had a hole in it that was too big. The fix was to have the axles knurled by a machine shop at the point where the bearings were supposed to seat. This restored enough diameter to the axle for the bearing to seat properly and not allow the axle to walk out of the bearing.

I could be dead wrong here so don't assume the advice I have given is complete but I don't honestly see how shims can help a situation that has both axles walking in and out of the housing far enough to allow the brake drums to rub the backing plates.

 

Thanks greystreak92, thats alot of accurate info. and I agree to what you are saying. The axles (c-clip) groove is unlikely to wear out oppose to the c-clip itself...from my understanding. Apparently from afew knowledgable 8.8 diff. owners that have had this problem state that the way to fix this problem is by replacing the differential cross shaft.

Im on a budget at the moment so I really dont have cash for a diagnostic and who knows what else, so i have to do this myself. At this point I am thinking that I will go down to the local junkyard and pull afew c-clips out of 8.8 diffs. and see what wear (if any) is on those. From this I will see what I am getting into with my diff. as far as visual on gears etc... My Bronco is my daily driver and having only 1 day off a week is tough especially if I run into a problem while mine is apart (for example I need different c-clips which I will have to compare). I assume I would be able to pull the axle right out and check out my bearings etc... From there if that all is ok (incl. the axle c-clip groove) I will have to check out my cross shaft while im down there, but i still need to find out what to look for on that cross shaft. Any other ideas?......... thanks!

 

You should be able to pick up another 8.8 complete diff and swap it over. they are all the same from 88-96, just make sure the gear ratio is correct.

 

Speaking of needing 8.8 parts. If you are close enough to make it worth the trip, I've got TWO 8.8's from under 92 models that I'll part with really cheap. One needs overhaul and a VSS the other is complete.

 

After doing some more research Ive learned that those real bad clunking noises in my rear end must have been the "tabs" breaking off of my clutches. Does this mean anything for my eaton limited slip thats in there? That along with whatever caused this damn problem needs to get fixed... Theres a diff. shop that I like close to me and will have to let them check it out. Can someone help me guess how much cash im going to be spending? lol

 

I don't know a flippin' thing about Eaton posi's, but if you have tabs breaking off of clutch discs then the Eaton posi IS your problem since that's where the clutch discs are. They're rebuildable, couldn't say what damage may have been done to your rear end or how much any of it might cost to fix.

 

I Probably do have damages clutches, also whatever the original problem is that caused so much end play. I will check it out in the next couple days.

 

Ok, it is not the axle bearings that keep your axle from going inboard. It is your cross pin. I cant hardly believe that your cross pin is worn or the end of your axle. If it was, your c-clips would fall out. If your drums are actually rubbing, I would think your axle tubes are working their way out of the diff housing. Ive never seen this, but ive heard of it.

 

The carrier is bad in the truck. I took it to a 4x4 shop, they pulled off the diff. cover and showed me. Apparantly there isnt to much they can do about the problem so i ordered the Auburn "pro series". Its an extra $175 or so then the Ford "trac loc" but i know its worth it. This installation plus new carrier bearings and i have a whopping total of $881. Damn thing had to go from bad to worst at the wrong time.

 

I got my Bronco back today and as expected its flawless. My axles had groves on the ends of them from wear on pushing/slamming into the cross pin. They spot welded the grooves on the end of the axles and then grinded them down. The auburn pro series limited slip feels awesome, and the end play is gone! The eaton that was in there before worked well but who knows if it was really wearing out. Do you guys think $350 is alot of money in labor for installing the Auburn lsd/oil/bearings... i have never dealt with a rear diff. and working 65 hrs a week i dont have time to learn....lol.

 

seems about right for labor. thats probably middle ground. ive heard of people charging $500/axle just in labor. did you upgrade the gears also while they where in there?

 

The gears are in perfect condition, 3.55's. Its my daily driver.